Fibroblasts: origins, definitions, and functions in health and disease

By Maksim V. Plikus, Xiaojie Wang, S. Sinha, Elvira Forte, S. M. Thompson, E. Herzog, R. Driskell, Nadia A. Rosenthal, J. Biernaskie, V. Horsley. Cell, 2021

921 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Summary Fibroblasts are diverse mesenchymal cells that participate in tissue homeostasis and disease by producing complex extracellular matrix and creating signaling niches through biophysical and biochemical cues. Transcriptionally and functionally heterogeneous across and within organs, fibroblasts encode regional positional information and maintain distinct cellular progeny. We summarize their development, lineages, functions, and contributions to fibrosis in four fibroblast-rich organs: skin, lung, skeletal muscle, and heart. We propose that fibroblasts are uniquely poised for tissue repair by easily reentering the cell cycle and exhibiting a reversible plasticity in phenotype and cell fate. These properties, when aberrantly activated, drive fibrotic disorders in humans.

Subfields: Oral Surgery, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Rheumatology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/688e40692e3389f3cea822dc059211166fcf1631

Citations in the corpus

• The senescence-associated secretory phenotype and its physiological and pathological implications (2024, neutral): “Fibroblasts are highly secretory cells by default 135 , and their secretory machinery might support a higher SASP compared to other cell types.”