Dynamic homeostasis of the heart via cell-cell interactions and inter-organ communication

Katsuhito Fujiu

Research Site	The University of Tokyo
	The University of Tokyo Hospital
	Project Assistant Professor

Content

Diseases of the heart are considered to be caused by the failure of both cell-cell interactions between many kinds of cells in the heart and inter-organ communication. However, the precise mechanisms of how multiple cell types and multiple organs maintain a dynamic homeostasis within the heart are still unclear. In this study, I focus on cardiomyocyte-inflammatory cell interactions and novel interactions between the heart, brain and kidney to reveal their collective contributions to the dynamic maintenance of cardiac homeostasis. I aim to unveil the nature of cardiac homeostasis by elucidating the roles played by various cell types and multiple organs.

Publication

1. Fujiu K, Wang J, Nagai R, Cardio-Protective Function of Cardiac Macrophage, Cardiovasc Res, 102(2):232-9, 2014
2. Tan X, Fujiu K, Manabe I, Nishida J, Yamagishi J, Nagai E, Yanagi Y, Choroidal neovascularization is inhibited via an intraocular decrease of inflammatory cells in mice lacking complement component C3, Sci Rep, 15702, 2015
3. Ogata F, Fujiu K, Matsumoto S, Nakayama Y, Shibata M, Oike , Koushima I, Watabe T, Nagai R, Manabe I, Excess lymphangiogenesis co-operatively induced by macrophages and CD4+ T cells drives the pathogenesis of lymphedema, J Invest Dermatol, 136, 706-714, 2016
4. Tan X, Fujiu K, Manabe I, Nishida J, Yamagishi R, Terashima Y, Matsushima K, Kaburaki T, Nagai R, Yanagi Y, Choroidal Neovascularization Is Inhibited in Splenic-Denervated or Splenectomized Mice with a Concomitant Decrease in Intraocular Macrophage. PLoS One, 11(8):e0160985, 2016
5. Fujiu K, Shibata M, Nakayama Y, Ogata F, Matsumoto S, Noshita K, Iwami S, Nakae S, Komuro I, Nagai R, Manabe I, A heart-brain-kidney network controls adaptation to cardiac stress through tissue macrophage activation and cellular communication, Nat Med, in press.