Figure 2From: Cardiac fibroblasts, fibrosis and extracellular matrix remodeling in heart diseasePluripotent cardiac fibroblasts impact different aspects of cardiac structure and function. Cardiac fibroblasts can produce a number of active peptides (for example, cytokines, growth factors, peptides), extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins (collagens, elastin, fibronectin, and so forth), and ECM-regulatory proteins, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs). As such, cardiac fibroblasts can impact molecular and cellular events that collectively determine cardiac structure and function.Back to article page