Cardiac macrophages maintain healthy electrical conduction in the heart
Sudden cardiac death is a serious unmet need in cardiology. We found that cardiac macrophages are essential for the maintenance of normal electrical conduction in the heart. They produce amphiregulin (AREG) that controls the gap junctional communication between cardiomyocytes. Macrophages and AREG would be important targets for the future development of means to prevent serious arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.
