Abstract
Fibrotic diseases encompass a wide spectrum of clinical entities including systemic fibrotic diseases such as systemic sclerosis, sclerodermatous graft versus host disease, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, and IgG4-associated sclerosing disease, as well as numerous organ-specific disorders including radiation-induced fibrosis, and cardiac, pulmonary, liver, and kidney fibrosis. Although their causative mechanisms are quite diverse, these diseases share the common feature of an uncontrolled and progressive accumulation of fibrous tissue macromolecules in affected organs leading to their dysfunction and ultimate failure. The pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases is complex and despite extensive investigation has remained elusive. Numerous studies have identified myofibroblasts as the cells responsible for the establishment and progression of the fibrotic process. Tissue myofibroblasts in fibrotic diseases originate from several sources including quiescent tissue fibroblasts, circulating CD34+ fibrocytes, and the phenotypic conversion of various cell types including epithelial and endothelial cells into activated myofibroblasts. However, the role of the phenotypic transition of endothelial cells into mesenchymal cells (Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition or EndoMT) in the pathogenesis of fibrotic disorders has not been fully elucidated. Here, we review the evidence supporting EndoMT’s contribution to human fibrotic disease pathogenesis.
Highlights
Human Fibrotic DisordersFibrotic diseases encompass a wide spectrum of entities characterized by the progressive and uncontrolled accumulation of exaggerated amounts of fibrotic tissue in various organs
Rheumatology Division, Department of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 233 S. 10th Street, Academic Editors: David A
The results demonstrated that endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) occurred spontaneously in Cav1 ́/ ́mice in vivo and suggested that CAV1 deficiency participates in the development and progression of tissue fibrosis and fibrotic diseases through the establishment of EndoMT
Summary
Fibrotic diseases encompass a wide spectrum of entities characterized by the progressive and uncontrolled accumulation of exaggerated amounts of fibrotic tissue in various organs. The most common fibrotic disorders include systemic diseases such as systemic sclerosis (SSc) [4,5,6], nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) [7,8], sclerodermatous graft versus host disease (GVHD) [9], and IgG4 -associated sclerosing disease [10,11], as well as chemotherapeutic and radiation-induced fibrotic diseases [12,13], and organ-specific disorders including cardiac [14], pulmonary [15], liver [16], and kidney fibrosis [17].
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