Collagen-Specific HSP47⁺ Myofibroblasts and CD163⁺ Macrophages Identify Profibrotic Phenotypes in Deceased Hearts With SARS-CoV-2 Infections.

ABSTRACT: Background Cardiac fibrosis complicates SARS-CoV-2 infections and has been linked to arrhythmic complications in survivors. Accordingly, we sought evidence of increased HSP47 (heat shock protein 47), a stress-inducible chaperone protein that regulates biosynthesis and secretion of procollagen in heart tissue, with the goal of elucidating molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac fibrosis in subjects with this viral infection. Methods and Results Using human autopsy tissue, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry, we quantified Hsp47⁺ cells and collagen α 1(l) in hearts from people with SARS-CoV-2 infections. Because macrophages are also linked to inflammation, we measured CD163⁺ cells in the same tissues. We observed irregular groups of spindle-shaped HSP47^+</

SUBMITTER: Puzyrenko A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10111490 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature