Cardiac fibroblasts (CF) are the principal cell type of the heart. They provide structural support for cardiac myocytes, are a source of paracrine growth factors, and are an important cellular component of the myocardial response to injury. CF are responsible for extracellular matrix synthesis in the heart during development and pathological conditions. Their proliferation and matrix synthesis is essential for scar formation at sites of myocardial infarction, cardiac fibrosis, and is often complicated by cardiac hypertrophy. CF also respond to changes in microenvironments in pathological conditions by modulating integrin expression. CF culture has been widely used as a model to study the cardiac matrix remodeling by physiological (exercise) and pathological (hypertension) stressors. RCF from ScienCell Research Laboratories are isolated from CD® IGS rat heart. RCF are cryopreserved at passage one and delivered frozen. Each vial contains >5 x 105 cells in 1 ml volume. RCF are characterized by fibroblast morphology and immunofluorescence with antibody specific to fibronectin. RCF are negative for mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. RCF are guaranteed to further expand for 5 population doublings under the conditions provided by ScienCell Research Laboratories. Recommended Medium It is recommended to use Fibroblast Medium-2 (FM-2, Cat. #2331) for culturing RCF in vitro.