SUMMARY: Tenascin-C (TNC), an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, plays important roles in tissue remodeling. TNC is not normally expressed in adults but reappears under pathologic conditions. The present study was designed to clarify the contribution of TNC to ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. We examined the expression of TNC after experimental myocardial infarction in the rat by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Within 24 hours of permanent coronary ligation, interstitial fibroblasts in the border zone started to express TNC mRNA. The expression of TNC was down-regulated on Day 7 and was no longer apparent by Day 14 after infarction. During the healing process, TNC protein and TNC-producing cells were found at the edges of the residual myocardium. Some of the TNC-producing cells were immunoreactive for ␣-smooth muscle actin. In culture, TNC increased the number of cardiomyocytes attached to laminin but inhibited the formation of focal contacts at costameres. The results indicate that during the acute phase after myocardial infarction, interstitial cells in the border zone synthesize TNC, which may loosen the strong adhesion of surviving cardiomyocytes to connective tissue and thereby facilitate tissue reorganization. (Lab Invest 2001, 81:1015-1024.T enascins constitute a family of extracellular matrix glycoproteins (Erickson, 1993). The first member found, tenascin-C (TNC), is highly expressed in embryonic tissue during morphogenesis and sparsely expressed in the adult, but reappears during wound healing, regeneration, or cancer invasion (Chiquet-Ehrismann et al, 1986). TNC is transiently expressed in distinct areas in association with active tissue remodeling. Various in vitro findings have indicated that TNC has multiple functions in the regulation of cell migration, proliferation, and apoptosis (Chung et al, 1996;Jones and Jones, 2000). TNC counterbalances cell adhesion to substrata, correlated with cytokinesis and motility, and prevents cells from adhering too tightly to other extracellular matrix proteins (Chiquet-Ehrismann, 1995;Chiquet-Ehrismann et al, 1988;Chung et al, 1996;Murphy-Ullrich et al, 1991;Prieto et al, 1992).In the heart, TNC appears only at very early stages of embryonic development and may play important roles in the differentiation of cardiomyocytes, structural organization of the myocardium, or development of coronary vessels . TNC is not normally expressed in the adult heart but reappears under various pathologic conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, or myocardial infarction (Imanaka-Yoshida et al, 1998, 2000Tamura et al, 1996;Willems et al, 1996).To understand its roles in tissue remodeling in the diseased myocardium, we examined the expression of TNC during tissue repair after experimental myocardial infarction in rats. Sequential changes in the localization of the molecule were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, and TNC-producing cells were identified by in situ hybridization (ISH) combined with immunohistochemistry. Additionally, to ...