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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Oct 28.
Published in final edited form as: Circ Res. 2016 Oct 28;119(10):1040–1045. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.309916

Table 1.

Fundamental Knowledge Gaps

We need to:

  • define the composition of the ECM in the healthy and post-MI heart (Cardiac ECM Atlas).

  • understand the effects of the ECM on inflammatory, reparative, and progenitor cells to coordinate cardiac wound healing.

  • develop better ECM imaging tools.

  • develop computational models that use knowledge gained to understand the time evolution with aging, pathology, and aging superimposed on pathology.

  • understand cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions that drive cardiac remodeling.

  • understand the complex interaction between ECM and cell-signaling growth factors.

  • dissect ECM-mediated actions that may increase myocardial stiffness and contribute to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in aging and diabetes and with reduced EF (HFrEF) in myocardial infarction and pressure overload.