2021 Science of Aging Webinar Series 9 - Cardiac Inflammation and Repair Following Myocardial Infarction

Following myocardial infarction (MI), the left heart ventricle (LV) undergoes a series of cardiac wound healing responses that involve both the stimulation of robust inflammation to clear dead muscle cells and tissue debris and the induction of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein synthesis to generate an infarct scar. Collectively, this process in known as LV remodeling. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is a key regulator of LV remodeling post-MI, through direct effects on ECM turnover as well as indirect effects on the regulation of the major cell types that coordinate cardiac wound healing—namely the infiltrating leukocytes and the cardiac fibroblasts. This webinar will discuss recent research that has expanded our understanding of MI LV remodeling, including recent proteomic advances focused on the ECM compartment to provide novel functional and translational insights. The program will provide an overview of how cardiac ECM research has evolved over the last decade and will provide insight into future directions that will drive our understanding of MMP directed cardiac ECM turnover after MI.