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Electrical coupling of muscle cells and macrophages in the heart demonstrated for the first time / Findings could enable new therapeutic approaches for heart attacks and cardiac arrhythmias

Macrophages, also known as phagocytes, are part of the immune system and play an important role in the defense against pathogens and in wound healing. A few years ago it was shown that macrophages are found in large numbers in the heart. Here they make a decisive contribution to healing after heart damage. Other non-immunological functions, such as those shown for macrophages in some other organs, have not yet been demonstrated. In a study published in the journal Cell on April 20, 2017, researchers from Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, together with researchers from the University of Freiburg - Bad Krozingen Heart Center (UHZ) show for the first time that the immune cells present in the heart form electrically conductive channels to cells in the conduction system and are actively involved in excitation conduction. The UHZ researchers were able to validate the experimental data using mathematical models and computer simulations, thus confirming the electrophysiological significance of cardiac macrophages. In particular, they showed that macrophages influence the electrical resting state of conduction cells and accelerate their return to this resting state after a heartbeat.

Macrophages are known to actively change their environment in response to tissue damage. "A completely new finding is that this can involve electrical interactions with muscle cells in the heart," explains study leader Prof. Matthias Nahrendorf PhD, Professor at Harvard University Boston. Prof. Dr. Peter Kohl, Director of the Institute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine at the UHZ adds: "This work expands the circle of cells that can be directly involved in cardiac excitation - until now, only muscle cells and, more recently, connective tissue cells were under discussion." A better understanding of how macrophages are involved in normal conduction and their role in cardiac arrhythmias may lead to new insights and therapeutic approaches based on the targeted modification of macrophages.

Link to the press release from Cell: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/cp-mce041317.php

Caption: Illustration of the interaction between cardiac macrophages (green) and cardiac muscle cells (purple). This supports electrical impulse transmission in the heart.

Image source: M. Hulsmanns & M. Nahrendorf (Harvard University), Ella Maru Studio

Original title of the publication: Macrophages Facilitate Electrical Conduction in the Heart

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.03.050

Link to the publication: http: //dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.03.050

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Peter Kohl
Director
Institute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Freiburg Heart Center - Bad Krozingen
Phone: 0761 270-63950
peter.kohl@universitaets-herzzentrum.de