The heterocellular nature of the heart has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. In addition to cardiomyocytes as the prototypical cell type of the heart, non-myocytes such as endothelial cells, fibroblasts, or immune cells are coming more into focus. The rise of single-cell sequencing technologies enables identification of ever more subtle differences and has reignited the question of what defines a cell’s identity. Here we provide an overview of the major cardiac cell types, describe their roles in homeostasis, and outline recent findings on non-canonical functions that may be of relevance for cardiology. We highlight modes of biochemical and biophysical interactions between different cardiac cell types and discuss the potential implications of the heterocellular nature of the heart for basic research and therapeutic interventions.

近年来，心脏的异细胞性质受到越来越多的关注。除了作为心脏典型细胞类型的心肌细胞外，内皮细胞、成纤维细胞或免疫细胞等非心肌细胞也越来越受到关注。单细胞测序技术的兴起使得能够识别更加细微的差异，并重新引发了细胞身份定义的问题。在这里，我们概述了主要的心肌细胞类型，描述了它们在稳态中的作用，并概述了可能与心脏病学相关的非典型功能的最新发现。我们重点介绍不同心脏细胞类型之间的生化和生物物理相互作用模式，并讨论心脏的异细胞性质对基础研究和治疗干预的潜在影响。