A homologue of Drosophila tissue polarity gene frizzled is expressed in migrating myofibroblasts in the infarcted rat heart

WM Blankesteijn, YPG Essers-Janssen… - Nature medicine, 1997 - nature.com
WM Blankesteijn, YPG Essers-Janssen, MJA Verluyten, MJAP Daemen, JFM Smits
Nature medicine, 1997nature.com
Myocardial infarction results in the formation of granulation tissue in the injured ventricular
wall. This tissue contains myofibroblasts in highly organized arrays; their contractile
properties may help to prevent the infarct area from dilatation. The mechanisms that control
myofibroblast alignment are unknown. We found that myofibroblasts express a homologue
of Drosophila tissue polarity gene frizzled (fz2) when migrating into the granulation tissue.
The expression is decreased after the cells have aligned. This suggests that fz2 is involved …
Abstract
Myocardial infarction results in the formation of granulation tissue in the injured ventricular wall. This tissue contains myofibroblasts in highly organized arrays; their contractile properties may help to prevent the infarct area from dilatation. The mechanisms that control myofibroblast alignment are unknown. We found that myofibroblasts express a homologue of Drosophila tissue polarity gene frizzled (fz2) when migrating into the granulation tissue. The expression is decreased after the cells have aligned. This suggests that fz2 is involved in the spatial control of cardiac wound repair after infarction, possibly through intra- and inter-cellular transmission of polarity signals as in developing Drosophila. Mutations in the fz2 gene may impair myofibroblast alignment in the infarct area, thereby resulting in ventricular dilatation and aneurism following infarction.
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