Novel regulatory pathways modulating cardiac contractile function: fibroblast to myocardial crosstalk via extracellular vesicles and non-coding RNAs

Abstract

Adequate cardiac function results from proper synchronous activation of the cardiac chambers, leading to alternating systolic and diastolic phases. Electrical activation of the cardiac chambers is mainly controlled by cardiac conduction system. The main pacemaker of the heart is the slow-conducting sinoatrial node, which triggers and progressively spreads the electrical impulse towards the atrioventricular node through the atrial chambers.