Gene expression of cardiac fibroblasts post-MI

Cardiac fibroblasts stay relatively quiescent under normal condition. These cells differentiate to myofibroblasts after myocardial infarction (MI), characterized by the expression of contractile proteins and secretion of elevated levels of extracellular matrix proteins, leading to cardiac remodeling. The differentiated myofiroblasts gradually lose most myofibroblast phenotypes but still persist in the infarct area to maintain the tissue structural integrity. We used microarrays to reveal the change in cardiac fibroblast gene expression profile after MI. TCF21 lineage-traced cardiac fibroblasts were isolated from left ventricle by FACS before, and 3 days, 7 days, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks post-MI for RNA extraction and Affymetrix microarrays.