Figure 1.
Monocytes/macrophages in cardiac homeostasis and during injury and repair. (A) Cardiac resident macrophages (red circles) populate the heart during steady state. They seem to self-maintain through in situ proliferation and are mostly independent from blood monocytes (white circles); (B) after acute ischemia (MI), cardiac resident macrophages disappear and huge numbers of blood Ly6Chigh monocytes are recruited to the ischemic area; (C) in mice with ischemic cardiomyopathy (HFrEF), macrophage numbers in the scar wane, while numbers gradually increase in the remote myocardium. This remote macrophage expansion is caused by both, increased local proliferation as well as increased blood monocyte recruitment. MI, myocardial infarction.