# The epigenetic regulation of crosstalk between cardiac fibroblasts and other cardiac cell types during stress

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how epigenetic changes in heart cells, especially fibroblasts, affect communication with other heart cells during stress and disease.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of how epigenetic regulation influences crosstalk between cardiac fibroblasts and other cell types during cardiovascular disease.

## Key findings

- Epigenetic mechanisms regulate cardiac fibroblast function during stress.
- Fibroblasts influence other cardiac cells like cardiomyocytes and immune cells through epigenetic crosstalk.
- Epigenetic changes may offer reversible pathways to improve heart function in disease states.

## Abstract

With the global impact of cardiovascular disease, there is a dire need to understand the mechanisms in the heart during injury and stress. It has been shown that the regulation of the extracellular matrix via cardiac fibroblasts plays a major role in the progression of heart failure and worsening function of the heart. Importantly, it has been suggested that crosstalk between other cardiac cells like cardiomyocytes, immune cells, and endothelial cells are influenced by the pathological function of the fibroblasts. This decline in function across all cardiac cells is seemingly irreversible. However, epigenetic mechanisms have been shown to regulate functionality across cardiac cells and improve outcomes during stress or injury. This epigenetic regulation has also been shown to control communication between different cell types and influence the role of multiple cardiac cell types during injury. The goal of this review is to summarize and discuss the current research of epigenetic regulation of cardiac fibroblasts and the subsequent crosstalk with other cardiac cell types in cardiovascular disease states.

Graphical abstract summarizing the role and mechanisms of epigenetic regulation between cardiac fibroblasts and other cardiac cell types.