A substantial number of heart attack survivors do not recover cardiac function, in part owing to the replacement of muscle cells with stiff fibrotic tissue. This pathological process is generally an unstoppable descent into heart failure; however, two new research articles suggest that using antibody- or cell-based therapies to target a subset of pathological fibroblasts that express CD248 may induce the heart to recover after ischemic injury.
Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access through your institution
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Learn more
Buy this article
Purchase on SpringerLink
Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Additional access options:
Log in
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Read our FAQs
Contact customer support
Fig. 1: Post-MI therapy targeting activated CD248+ fibroblasts.
References
Frangogiannis, N. G. Circ. Res. 125, 117–146 (2019).
ArticleCASPubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Tallquist, M. D. & Molkentin, J. D. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 14, 484–491 (2017).
ArticlePubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Li, G. et al. Nat. Cardiovasc. Res. https://doi.org/10.1038/44161-025-00617-1 (2025).
Chen, H. et al. Nat. Commun. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56703-2 (2025).
Fierle, J. K. et al. Cell Rep. Med. 2, 100362 (2021).
ArticleCASPubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Ash, S. L. et al. J. Immunother. Cancer 12, e008608 (2024).
ArticlePubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Spiridon, C. I. et al. Clin. Cancer Res. 10, 3542–3551 (2004).
ArticleCASPubMedGoogle Scholar
Rurik, J. G. et al. Science 375, 91–96 (2022).
ArticleCASPubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Aghajanian, H. et al. Nature 573, 430–433 (2019).
ArticleCASPubMedPubMed CentralGoogle Scholar
Wang, L. C. S. et al. Cancer Immunol. Res. 2, 154–166 (2014).
ArticleCASPubMedGoogle Scholar
Download references
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Joel G. Rurik
Authors
Joel G. Rurik
View author publications
You can also search for this author inPubMedGoogle Scholar
Corresponding author
Correspondence to Joel G. Rurik.
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
J.G.R. is a co-author on a patent that describes the delivery of FAP CAR mRNA to T cells for the treatment of cardiac fibrosis but declares no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
Reprints and permissions
About this article
Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark
Cite this article
Rurik, J.G. Inflammatory CD248+ activated fibroblasts are a potential therapeutic target in ischemic heart disease. Nat Cardiovasc Res (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-025-00632-2
Download citation
Published:27 March 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-025-00632-2
Share this article
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Get shareable link
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Copy to clipboard
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative