{
  "abstract": "Myocardial infarction-triggered cardiac fibrosis is a cardinal feature of maladaptive ventricular remodeling and a principal contributor to heart failure pathogenesis. Enabled by single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, accumulating evidence demonstrates that post-infarction fibrosis represents an actively coordinated biological program rather than a passive wound-healing event, which is governed by ligand-receptor-mediated crosstalk between immune cells and cardiac fibroblasts. Pioneering work has established monocyte-derived macrophages as a predominant cellular source of pro-inflammatory interleukin-1β; upon binding its cognate receptor on fibroblasts, this cytokine instigates the generation of pro-fibrotic fibroblast subsets within spatially segregated niches of the infarcted myocardium. Multiple additional ligand-receptor modules, encompassing osteopontin-CD44/integrin, transforming growth factor-β, platelet-derived growth factor, as well as growth arrest-specific protein 6-MER tyrosine kinase, further fine-tune fibroblast activation trajectories in a spatiotemporally-restricted fashion. Intriguingly, a substantial fraction of these ligand-receptor interactions are conserved in cancer-associated fibroblast biology, wherein osteopontin-producing macrophages and activated fibroblasts collaboratively build pro-tumor stromal microenvironments. We consolidate recent multi-omic findings regarding immune-fibroblast ligand-receptor communication during post-infarction cardiac remodeling, highlight mechanistic analogies to cancer-associated fibroblast activation, and discuss therapeutic prospects arising from targeting these conserved signaling nodes across cardiac and neoplastic diseases.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine)",
    "Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University",
    "Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hong Lu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xiao-long Tao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ding-ming Song"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yi-bo He"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lan-zhi Zheng"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9bxwr8evrtvj2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fimmu.2026.1992368",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "9bxwr8evrtvj2",
  "issns": [
    "1664-3224"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1992368/full",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2705|Cardiac Fibrosis and Remodeling"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224091913",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9bxwr8evrtvj2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:17Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fimmu.2026.1992368",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1992368/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2705|Cardiac Fibrosis and Remodeling",
      "subfield": "cardiovascular"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Immune–fibroblast ligand–receptor axes in post-infarction cardiac remodeling: convergent and divergent mechanisms compared with cancer-associated fibroblasts",
  "title_text": "Immune–fibroblast ligand–receptor axes in post-infarction cardiac remodeling: convergent and divergent mechanisms compared with cancer-associated fibroblasts",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:17Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9bxwr8evrtvj2",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Immunology",
  "versions": []
}