Qihao Sun, Wei Chen, Rimao Wu, Bo Tao, Ping Wang, Baiming Sun, Juan F Alvarez, Feiyang Ma, David Ceja Galindo, Sean P Maroney, Anthony J Saviola, Kirk C Hansen, Shen Li, Arjun Deb
Following myocardial infarction, the heart repairs itself via a fibrotic repair response. The degree of fibrosis is determined by the balance between deposition of extracellular matrix by activated fibroblasts and breakdown of nascent scar tissue by proteases that are secreted predominantly by inflammatory cells. Excessive proteolytic activity and matrix turnover has been observed in human heart failure and protease inhibitors in the injured heart regulate matrix breakdown. Serine protease inhibitors (Serpins) represent the largest and the most functionally diverse family of evolutionary conserved protease inhibitors and levels of the specific Serpin, SerpinA3, have been strongly associated with clinical outcomes in human myocardial infarction as well as non-ischemic cardiomyopathies...
April 26, 2024: Cardiovascular Research