Cited by 132Cardiac Fibrosis and RemodelingTGF-β signaling in diseasesCongenital heart defects research

The role of Smad signaling cascades in cardiac fibrosis

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Hanna, Anis, Humeres, Claudio, Frangogiannis, Nikolaos G.·2021·Cellular Signalling

Abstract

Most myocardial pathologic conditions are associated with cardiac fibrosis, the expansion of the cardiac interstitium through deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Although replacement fibrosis plays a reparative role after myocardial infarction, excessive, unrestrained or dysregulated myocardial ECM deposition is associated with ventricular dysfunction, dysrhythmias and adverse prognosis in patients with heart failure. The members of the Transforming Growth Factor (TGF)-β superfamily are critical regulators of cardiac repair, remodeling and fibrosis. TGF-βs are released and activated in injured tissues, bind to their receptors and transduce signals in part through activation of cascades involving a family of intracellular effectors the receptor-activated Smads (R-Smads). This review manuscript summarizes our knowledge on the role of Smad signaling cascades in cardiac fibrosis. Smad3, the best-characterized member of the family plays a critical role in activation of a myofibroblast phenotype, stimulation of ECM synthesis, integrin expression and secretion of proteases and anti-proteases. In vivo, fibroblast Smad3 signaling is critically involved in scar organization and exerts matrix-preserving actions. Although Smad2 also regulates fibroblast function in vitro, its in vivo role in rodent models of cardiac fibrosis seems more limited. Very limited information is available on the potential involvement of the Smad1/5/8 cascade in cardiac fibrosis. Dissection of the cellular actions of Smads in cardiac fibrosis, and identification of patient subsets with overactive or dysregulated myocardial Smad-dependent fibrogenic responses are critical for design of successful therapeutic strategies in patients with fibrosis-associated heart failure.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cellsig.2020.109826

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  • Motif analysis of these regions revealed enrichment for profibrotic TFs such as SMADs and MEOX1, and for RUNX1 and REL, regulators of proinflammatory responses.

    “Motif analysis of these regions revealed enrichment for TFs critical for profibrotic responses in heart failure, such as SMADs27 and MEOX14, as well as RUNX1 and REL, regulators of proinflammatory responses27 (Extended Data Fig. 4D).”

    From Chromatin remodelling drives immune cell–fibroblast communication in heart failure (2024) · cites this paper as [27]

    The ‘Smad signaling cascades in fibroblasts’ section (page not provided) describes Smad3 as a central signal promoting cardiac myofibroblast conversion and extracellular-matrix production, supporting the profibrotic role attributed to SMADs. The passages retrieved for RUNX1 and REL do not establish their roles in proinflammatory responses. The motif enrichment is presented as the citing paper’s own analysis, and MEOX1 carries a different citation. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [42]Heldin CH, Moustakas A, Signaling Receptors for TGF-beta Family Members, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, 8 (2016). PMC4968163 27481709
  2. [100]Bujak M, Ren G, Kweon HJ, Dobaczewski M, Reddy A, Taffet G, Wang XF, Frangogiannis NG, Essential role of Smad3 in infarct healing and in the pathogenesis of cardiac remodeling, Circulation, 116 (2007) 2127– 2138. 17967775
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Authors
Hanna, A., Humeres, C., & Frangogiannis, N. G.
Affiliations
Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Frangogiannis, Nikolaos G.
Venue
Cellular Signalling
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-01
Volume
77
Pages
109826
ISSN
0898-6568 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3096166596
Cited by
132
References
167
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 14
FWCI
2.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cellular Signalling (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • American Heart Association (19POST34450144)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL85440, HL76246, R01 HL149407)
  • National Institutes of Health
  • U.S. Department of Defense (PR151029, PR181464, PR151134)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Fibrosis and Remodeling
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › TGF-β signaling in diseases
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Congenital heart defects research
Keywords
myocardial fibrosis, Smad signaling, Smad3, Smad2, Smad1/5/8, TGF-beta superfamily, extracellular matrix deposition, myofibroblast phenotype, fibroblast activation, heart failure, cardiac remodeling, integrin expression, protease secretion, cardiac repair
MeSH terms
Animals, Diabetes Mellitus, Humans, Myocardial Infarction, Signal Transduction, Extracellular Matrix Proteins, Smad Proteins, TGF-beta Superfamily Proteins, Myofibroblasts

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