Novel molecular therapeutic targets in cardiac fibrosis: a brief overview

Cardiac fibrosis, characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix, abolishes cardiac contractility, impairs cardiac function, and ultimately leads to heart failure. In recent years, significant evidence has emerged that supports the highly dynamic and responsive nature of the cardiac extracellular matrix. Although our knowledge of cardiac fibrosis has advanced tremendously over the past decade, there is still a lack of specific therapies owing to an incomplete understanding of the disease etiology and process. In this review, we attempt to highlight some of the recently investigated molecular determinants of ischemic and non-ischemic fibrotic remodeling of the myocardium that present as promising avenues for development of anti-fibrotic therapies. Key words: cardiac fibrosis, transcription factors, histone deacetylases, transforming growth factor beta, microRNA. La fibrose cardiaque, caracterisee par une accumulation excessive de matrice extracellulaire, empeche la contractilite du coeur, nuit a la fonction cardiaque et mene ultimement a l'insuffisance cardiaque. Au cours des dernieres annees, bien des donnees probantes ont emerge a l'appui de la nature tres dynamique et reactive de la matrice extracellulaire cardiaque. Meme si nos connaissances sur la fibrose cardiaque ont enormement evolue au cours des dix dernieres annees, on manque toujours de traitements specifiques en raison d'une comprehension incomplete de l'etiologie et des processus de la maladie. Dans cet article de synthese, nous tentons de mettre en lumiere certains des determinants moleculaires du remodelage fibrotique du myocarde ischemique et non ischemique qui ont ete etudies recemment et qui menent vers des avenues prometteuses quant au developpement de traitements contre la fibrose. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : fibrose cardiaque, facteurs de transcription, histone desacetylases, facteur de croissance transformant beta, micro ARN.
Introduction Cardiac fibrosis is a pathological condition that ensues following acute cardiac injuries like myocardial infarction (MI) and chronic conditions like hypertension and valvular disease (Kong et al. 2014; Weber [...]