THE ROLE OF THE FIBROBLAST IN STRUCTURING THE CARDIAC MICROENVIRONMENT

dc.contributor.advisor Tallquist, Michelle D.
dc.contributor.author Smith, Jill T.
dc.contributor.department Cell and Molecular Biology
dc.date.accessioned 2020-07-07T19:02:18Z
dc.date.issued 2020
dc.description.degree Ph.D.
dc.embargo.liftdate 2021-01-06
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/68901
dc.subject Cellular biology
dc.subject cardiac fibroblast
dc.subject extracellular matrix
dc.title THE ROLE OF THE FIBROBLAST IN STRUCTURING THE CARDIAC MICROENVIRONMENT
dc.type Thesis
dcterms.abstract Fibroblasts are important non-muscle cells in the heart. Their contribution to cardiac development, physiology, and pathology is evident. The primary physiological role of the cardiac fibroblast is the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) network that determines cardiac stiffness and structure and also coordinates extracellular signaling. In addition to their critical role in ECM synthesis, fibroblasts produce cytokines and proteases that directly affect ECM organization and turnover, and influence neonatal cardiomyocyte proliferation. Our knowledge of fibroblast biology is based largely on in vitro studies that cannot recapitulate the complex cellular and biophysical milieu of the working heart. In my dissertation work, I have investigated the role of fibroblasts in the perinatal and adult heart using transgenic deletion of these cells. My overall hypothesis is that ECM deposition and organization by cardiac fibroblasts are required for normal heart development and homeostatic maintenance, and that perturbation of these cells leads to accelerated heart dysfunction after injury.
dcterms.extent 169 pages
dcterms.language eng
dcterms.publisher University of Hawai'i at Manoa
dcterms.rights All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
dcterms.type Text
local.identifier.alturi http://dissertations.umi.com/hawii:10374
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