Fibroblast Mechanotransduction Network Predicts Targets for Mechano-Adaptive Infarct Therapies

Abstract

Regional control of fibrosis after myocardial infarction is critical for maintaining structural integrity in the infarct while preventing collagen accumulation in non-infarcted areas. Cardiac fibroblasts modulate matrix turnover in response to biochemical and biomechanical cues, but the complex interactions between signaling pathways confounds efforts to develop therapies for regional scar formation. Here, we employed a logic-based ordinary differential equation model of fibroblast mechano-chemo signal transduction to predict matrix protein expression in response to canonical biochemical stimuli and mechanical tension. Functional analysis of mechano-chemo interactions showed extensive pathway crosstalk with tension amplifying, dampening, or reversing responses to biochemical stimuli. Comprehensive drug target screens in low- and high-tension contexts identified 13 mechano-adaptive therapies that promote matrix accumulation in regions where it is needed and reduce matrix levels in regions where it is not needed. Our predictions demonstrate this approachs utility for discovering context-specific mechanisms mediating fibrosis and druggable targets for spatially resolved therapies.