Human Cardiac Fibroblasts

Human Cardiac Fibroblasts (HCFs) are isolated from heart tissue, providing structural support for cardiac myocytes. HCF is one of the major cellular components in the heart, participating in heart function, homeostasis, and structure. Cardiac fibroblast cells secrete collagen and play a role in providing structural support for the heart. The cardiac fibroblast cell proliferation and synthesis of matrix are vital to scar formation in myocardial infarction and cardiac fibrosis. However, inappropriate cardiac fibroblast proliferation is a causative factor in cardiac fibrosis.
After heart injury, some chemical signals like growth factors, cytokines, and matrikines are secreted in paracrine or autocrine manner. Those factors act on cardiac fibroblasts via changing fibroblast gene expression and boosting cell migration to the injured area, which then promote wound healing and scar formation.

Applications
Cardiac fibroblast culture has been widely applied in studying the remodeling of the cardiac matrix by physiological (exercise) and pathological (hypertension) stressors.
Cardiac fibroblast model is excellent to study extracellular matrix producing and remodeling, as well as myocardial responses to injury like wounds, toxicology and pathology.
Suitable to establish serum-free human feeder layers for human embryonic stem cell cultures.