AJP-Heart and Circulatory Physiology Podcast

Does neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) directly affect macrophages present during the inflammatory phase of cardiac fibrosis? Listen as Deputy Editor Merry Lindsey (University of Mississippi Medical Center) interviews authors Gilles De Keulenaer and Vincent Segers (both at University of Antwerp, Belgium) and content expert Amy Bradshaw (Medical University of South Carolina) about the novel study by Vermeulen et al. What “accidental discovery” in the lab lead the authors to expand their study of NRG-1 in the fibrosis of the heart to skin and lung? Are the similarities in collagen deposition in the extracellular matrix of the heart, skin, lung and other tissues driven by macrophages? “Paying attention to accidental discoveries can lead to new avenues of research,” said Dr. Merry Lindsey. Did the authors find that the neuregulin-ErbB4 system plays a role in both interstitial and perivascular fibrosis? Listen and find out.

Zarha Vermeulen, Anne-Sophie Hervent, Lindsey Dugaucquier, Leni Vandekerckhove, Miche Rombouts, Matthias Beyens, Dorien M. Schrijvers, Guido R. Y. De Meyer, Stuart Maudsley, Gilles W. De Keulenaer*, and Vincent F. M. Segers Inhibitory actions of the NRG-1/ErbB4 pathway in macrophages during tissue fibrosis in the heart, skin, and lung Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published November 1, 2017. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00206.2017