Primary human cardiac fibroblasts (HCF) are isolated from the ventricles of an adult heart. HCF play a central role in the maintenance of the extracellular matrix in the normal heart and the synthesis of growth factors and cytokines.

Under pathophysiological conditions, cardiac fibroblasts are involved in scar formation after myocardical infarction, cardiac fibrosis and cardiac hypertrophy. HCF can be used to study such processes in vitro.