Understanding how different heart cells work together

Regulation of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling by human cardiac fibroblasts in health and disease (Mr Brian Wang)

Professor Cesare Terracciano's team is working out how different cells within the heart interact with each other and how these relationships affect the way the heart pumps. The heart muscle is made up of cells called cardiomyocytes, which contract and enable it to pump blood around the body. There are also several different types of non-muscle cell that help to form blood vessels and control the supporting material – the extracellular matrix. Heart muscle and non-muscle cells, particularly cells called fibroblasts, communicate, interact with, and influence each other. These interactions, particularly with fibroblasts, can influence how cardiomyocytes pump. But, although scientists think fibroblasts could play important roles in both healthy and diseased hearts, little is known about these cells. Professor Terracciano believes that healthy and diseased fibroblasts control how cardiomyocytes contract - either by direct contact or through other molecules - and that the extracellular matrix is also involved. In this project, the student will investigate how these interactions work by developing a new method to study them in the lab. The team will make human heart muscle cells from stem cells (the stems cells are derived from skin cells) to study how they contract when grown with human fibroblasts. This study will help to map out important control mechanisms involved in heart contraction and may reveal new targets for drugs to manage heart disease.