Resident cardiac macrophages are not required for normal atrioventricular node conduction
Sami Al-Othman, Yakun Wu, Pierre Fontanaud, Franz K Puttur, David Conesa, Chelsea Zhu, Sacha Moore, Roman Tikhomirov, Alice J. Francis, Sooraj Nair, Rasheda A. Chowdhury, Mubassher Husain, Joseph J. Boyle, Delvac Oceandy, Steven Niederer, , Alicia D’Souza
This study challenges the role of resident cardiac macrophages in AV node conduction by showing no evidence of Cx43-mediated coupling and no effect of macrophage depletion on AV electrical activity.
bioRxiv · Feb 12, 2026 · PreprintPhysiology