Cell-Matrix Interactions in Cardiac Development and Disease

Cardiac development is a dynamic process in which cells and tissues experience a multitude of biophysical cues. The extracellular matrix, long thought to have a passive role throughout cardiac development, is now known to actively modulate cells during development via both chemical and mechanical cues. Throughout cardiac development and cardiac disease, the cardiac extracellular matrix remodels, changing its composition, organization, and mechanical properties in response to a variety of cues. Cardiac cells both initiate and respond to these changes in cardiac extracellular matrix properties to maintain homeostasis or promote either normal or pathological tissue development. In order to better understand this interplay, it is necessary to study how cardiac extracellular matrix and cardiac cells interact, and a number of specialized techniques have been utilized to study this complicated interaction. This chapter first provides a review of common techniques used to interrogate the bidirectional interaction between cardiac cells and cardiac extracellular matrix before discussing changes in the phenotype of the major cell populations of the heart in response to changes in cardiac extracellular matrix properties throughout cardiac development and cardiac disease.