Role of cardiac fibroblasts on cardiac development and differentiation during fetal period

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25860885
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Pediatrics
• Research Institution: Jikei University School of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: AKAIKE Toru 東京慈恵会医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (20647101)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 線維芽細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cardiac fibroblasts contribute to cardiac hypertrophy and increases of cardiac function, not only fibrosis and scarring in heart. However, role of cardiac fibroblasts during fetal period still remains unclear. We then tried to elucidate whether fetal cardiac fibroblasts regulated proliferation and differentiation of cardiomyocytes. We performed primary culture in fetal and neonatal rat heart, and determined cell-cycle related genes by qRT-PCR analysis. Expressions of CDK2 and cyclin D1 mRNA in cardiomyocytes co-cultured with fetal cardiac fibroblasts were significantly higher than that of neonatal cardiac fibroblasts. We found that fetal cardiac fibroblasts may contribute to cardiomyocyte proliferation.

Free Research Field

小児循環器