Key result
Addition of a ROCK pathway inhibitor to an engineered in vitro cardiac fibrosis model reduced the ratio of myofibroblasts, indicating feasibility for screening anti-fibrosis drugs.
Why the study?
Does a ROCK pathway inhibitor reduce the ratio of myofibroblasts in a microengineered in vitro model of cardiac fibrosis?
Does a ROCK pathway inhibitor reduce the ratio of myofibroblasts in a microengineered in vitro model of cardiac fibrosis?
A novel microengineered in vitro model of cardiac fibrosis successfully recapitulated fibrogenesis and demonstrated utility for drug screening by showing reduced myofibroblast ratios with a ROCK inhibitor.
Supports microengineered fibrosis models for drug screening; leaves open clinical translation of ROCK inhibition.
Cardiac fibrosis greatly impairs normal heart function post infarction and there is no effective anti-fibrotic drug developed at present. The current therapies for cardiac infarction mainly take effect by eliminating occlusion in coronary artery by thrombolysis drugs, vascular stent grafting or heart bypass operation, which are capable to provide sufficient blood flow for intact myocardium yet showed subtle efficacy in ameliorating fibrosis condition. The advances of in vitro cell/tissue models open new avenues for drug assessment due to the low cost, good controllability and availability as well as the convenience for operation as compared to the animal models. To our knowledge, no proper biomimetic in vitro cardiac fibrosis model has been reported yet. Here we engineered an in vitro cardiac fibrosis model using heart-derived fibroblasts, and the fibrogenesis was recapitulated by patterning the substrate rigidity which mimicked the mechanical heterogeneity of myocardium post-infarction. Various biomarkers for cardiac fibrosis were assayed to validate the biomimicry of the engineered platform. Subsequent addition of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) pathway inhibitor reduced the ratio of myofibroblasts, indicating the feasibility of applying this platform in screening anti-fibrosis drugs.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Zhao et al. (2014) studied Cardiac fibrosis. Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) pathway inhibitor was evaluated on Ratio of myofibroblasts. Addition of a ROCK pathway inhibitor to an engineered in vitro cardiac fibrosis model reduced the ratio of myofibroblasts, indicating feasibility for screening anti-fibrosis drugs.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: