Dr. John Elrod, PhD- Metabolic control of fibroblast fate and cardiac fibrosis

We recently reported that glutaminolysis is essential for the epigenetic changes permissive to activation of the myofibroblast differentiation program and cardiac fibrosis. In fact, targeting these pathways is sufficient to reverse fibrosis in models of heart failure. These findings implicate metabolic remodeling as a critical feature of myofibroblast formation and persistence in the diseased heart. This presentation will highlight metabolite-dependent epigenetic signaling, new data implicating paracellular metabolic crosstalk as prominent mechanism in myofibroblast formation, and novel therapeutic targets in cardiac fibrosis and heart failure.