Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair最新文献

The importance of cardiac fibroblasts in the regulation of myocardial remodelling following myocardial infarction (MI) is becoming increasingly recognised. Studies over the last few decades have reinforced the concept that cardiac fibroblasts are much more than simple homeostatic regulators of extracellular matrix turnover, but are integrally involved in all aspects of the repair and remodelling of the heart that occurs following MI. The plasticity of fibroblasts is due in part to their ability to undergo differentiation into myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts are specialised cells that possess a more contractile and synthetic phenotype than fibroblasts, enabling them to effectively repair and remodel the cardiac interstitium to manage the local devastation caused by MI. However, in addition to their key role in cardiac restoration and healing, persistence of myofibroblast activation can drive pathological fibrosis, resulting in arrhythmias, myocardial stiffness and progression to heart failure. The aim of this review is to give an appreciation of both the beneficial and detrimental roles of the myofibroblast in the remodelling heart, to describe some of the major regulatory mechanisms controlling myofibroblast differentiation including recent advances in the microRNA field, and to consider how this cell type could be exploited therapeutically.

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Background: Crew members on space missions inevitably are exposed to low background radiation and can receive much higher doses during solar particle events (SPE) that consist primarily of protons. Ionizing radiation could cause lung pathologies. Cell adhesion molecules (CAM) are believed to participate in fibrogenesis. Interactions between CAM and extracellular matrix (ECM) affect epithelial repair mechanisms in the lung. However, there are very limited data on biological effects of protons on normal lung tissue. Numerous reports have shown that exposure to low-dose/low-dose-rate (LDR) radiation can result in radioadaptation that renders cells more resistant to subsequent acute radiation. The goal of this study was to compare expression of genes associated with ECM and CAM, as well as critical profibrotic mediators, in mouse lungs after acute irradiation with photons and protons, and also determine whether pre-exposure to LDR γ-rays induces an adaptive effect.

Results: Overall, a marked difference was present in the proton vs. photon groups in gene expression. When compared to 0 Gy, more genes were affected by protons than by photons at both time points (11 vs. 6 on day 21 and 14 vs. 8 on day 56), and all genes affected by protons were upregulated. Many genes were modulated by LDR γ-rays when combined with photons or protons. Col1a1, mmp14, and mmp15 were significantly upregulated by all radiation regimens on day 21. Similarly, the change in expression of profibrotic proteins was also detected after acute and combination irradiation.

Conclusion: These data show that marked differences were present between acutely delivered protons and photons in modulating genes, and the effect of protons was more profound than that of photons. Pre-exposure to LDR γ-rays 'normalized' some genes that were modified by acute irradiation.

The 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Tissue Repair Society, Athens, Greece, October 4 to 5, 2012 informed about pathophysiological mechanisms in tissue repair and on the development of clinical treatments of chronic wounds, fibrosis, and cancer, considering recent advances in molecular biology and biotechnology.

Background: The extravasation of granulocytes (such as neutrophils) at a site of inflammation is a key aspect of the innate immune system. Signals from the site of inflammation upregulate granulocyte adhesion to the endothelium to initiate extravasation, and also enhance granulocyte adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins to facilitate granulocyte movement through the inflamed tissue. During the resolution of inflammation, other signals inhibit granulocyte adhesion to slow and ultimately stop granulocyte influx into the tissue. In a variety of inflammatory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, an excess infiltration of granulocytes into a tissue causes undesired collateral damage, and being able to reduce granulocyte adhesion and influx could reduce this damage.

Results: We found that serum amyloid P (SAP), a constitutive protein component of the blood, inhibits granulocyte spreading and granulocyte adhesion to extracellular matrix components. This indicates that in addition to granulocyte adhesion inhibitors that are secreted during the resolution of inflammation, a granulocyte adhesion inhibitor is present at all times in the blood. Although SAP affects adhesion, it does not affect the granulocyte adhesion molecules CD11b, CD62L, CD18, or CD44. SAP also has no effect on the production of hydrogen peroxide by resting or stimulated granulocytes, or N-formyl-methionine-leucine-phenylalanine (fMLP)-induced granulocyte migration. In mice treated with intratracheal bleomycin to induce granulocyte accumulation in the lungs, SAP injections reduced the number of granulocytes in the lungs.

Conclusions: We found that SAP, a constitutive component of blood, is a granulocyte adhesion inhibitor. We hypothesize that SAP allows granulocytes to sense whether they are in the blood or in a tissue.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have been extensively studied in experimental models of cancer, where their inhibition of deacetylation has been proven to regulate cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. This in turn has led to the use of a variety of HDAC inhibitors in clinical trials. In recent years the applicability of HDAC inhibitors in other areas of disease has been explored, including the treatment of fibrotic disorders. Impaired wound healing involves the continuous deposition and cross-linking of extracellular matrix governed by myofibroblasts leading to diseases such as liver and kidney fibrosis; both diseases have high unmet medical needs which are a burden on health budgets worldwide. We provide an overview of the potential use of HDAC inhibitors against liver and kidney fibrosis using the current understanding of these inhibitors in experimental animal models and in vitro models of fibrosis.

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Background: The possibility of extracting RNA and measuring RNA expression from paraffin sections can allow extensive investigations on stored paraffin samples obtained from diseased livers and could help with studies of the natural history of liver fibrosis and inflammation, and in particular, correlate basic mechanisms to clinical outcomes.

Results: To address this issue, a pilot study of multiplex gene expression using branched-chain DNA technology was conducted to directly measure mRNA expression in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded needle biopsy samples of human liver. Twenty-five genes were selected for evaluation based on evidence obtained from human fibrotic liver, a rat BDL model and in vitro cultures of immortalized human hepatic stellate cells. The expression levels of these 25 genes were then correlated with liver fibrosis and inflammation activity scores. Statistical analysis revealed that three genes (COL3A1, KRT18, and TUBB) could separate fibrotic from non-fibrotic samples and that the expression of ten genes (ANXA2, TIMP1, CTGF, COL4A1, KRT18, COL1A1, COL3A1, ACTA2, TGFB1, LOXL2) were positively correlated with the level of liver inflammation activity.

Conclusion: This is the first report describing this multiplex technique for liver fibrosis and has provided the proof of concept of the suitability of RNA extracted from paraffin sections for investigating the modulation of a panel of proinflammatory and profibrogenic genes. This pilot study suggests that this technique will allow extensive investigations on paraffin samples from diseased livers and possibly from any other tissue. Using identical or other genes, this multiplex expression technique could be applied to samples obtained from extensive patient cohorts with stored paraffin samples in order to correlate gene expression with valuable clinically relevant information. This method could be used to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of liver fibrosis and inflammation, its progression, and help development of new therapeutic approaches for this indication.

Adult stem cells are activated to proliferate and differentiate during normal tissue homeostasis as well as in disease states and injury. This activation is a vital component in the restoration of function to damaged tissue via either complete or partial regeneration. When regeneration does not fully occur, reparative processes involving an overproduction of stromal components ensure the continuity of tissue at the expense of its normal structure and function, resulting in a "reparative disorder". Adult stem cells from multiple organs have been identified as being involved in this process and their role in tissue repair is being investigated. Evidence for the participation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in the tissue repair process across multiple tissues is overwhelming and their role in reparative disorders is clearly demonstrated, as is the involvement of a number of specific signaling pathways. Transforming growth factor beta, bone morphogenic protein and Wnt pathways interact to form a complex signaling network that is critical in regulating the fate choices of both stromal and tissue-specific resident stem cells (TSCs), determining whether functional regeneration or the formation of scar tissue follows an injury. A growing understanding of both TSCs, MSCs and the complex cascade of signals regulating both cell populations have, therefore, emerged as potential therapeutic targets to treat reparative disorders. This review focuses on recent advances on the role of these cells in skeletal muscle, heart and lung tissues.

Wound healing, cardiac fibrosis, and infarct scar development, while possessing distinct features, share a number of key functional similarities, including extracellular matrix synthesis and remodeling by fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. Understanding the underlying mechanisms that are common to these processes may suggest novel therapeutic approaches for pathologic situations such as fibrosis, or defective wound healing such as hypertrophic scarring or keloid formation. This manuscript will briefly review the major steps of wound healing, and will contrast this process with how cardiac infarct scar formation or interstitial fibrosis occurs. The feasibility of targeting common pro-fibrotic growth factor signaling pathways will be discussed. Finally, the potential exploitation of novel regulators of wound healing and fibrosis (ski and scleraxis), will be examined.

Interleukin (IL)-33 (IL-1F11) is the newest member of the IL-1Family of cytokines and has been best characterized as a potent inducer of T helper (Th)2 immune responses. Increasing evidence, however, indicates that IL-33 also represents an important mediator of mucosal healing and epithelial restoration and repair. As such, IL-33 follows the trend of several innate-type cytokines, including members of the IL-1Family (for example, IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-18), that possess dichotomous roles of inducing a potent proinflammatory response, while also promoting protection and the return to immune homeostasis. This dual function is best depicted in the gut mucosa and is dependent upon the immunological/genetic status of the host and/or the type and phase of the ongoing inflammatory process. IL-33 has also been described as a prototypic 'alarmin' that has the ability to signal local, innate immune responses of trauma or infection in an effort to mount an effective, physiologic inflammatory reaction to induce mucosal healing and restore normal gut equilibrium. Finally, several recent studies have reported the role of IL-33 during fibrogenesis as fibrosis is commonly thought to occur as the end stage of dysregulated wound healing wherein chronic tissue damage is paired with uncontrolled activation of mesenchymal cells. Taken together, aside from its established function of promoting potent Th2 immune responses, IL-33 is emerging as an important cytokine for the induction of mucosal healing and restoration of intestinal homeostasis, as well as playing a central role in fibrosis and wound repair. The present review will focus on what is currently known regarding IL-33's role in gut mucosal wound healing and fibrosis, as well as touch on its potential contribution to tumorigenesis and GI-related cancer, an alternate outcome of dysregulated epithelial proliferation.

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Background: Combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) is characterized by both emphysema of the upper zone and diffuse parenchymal lung disease with fibrosis of the lower zone of the lung on chest computed tomography. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of CPFE regarding gene expressions by comparing the results of microarray sequences between fibrotic and emphysematous lesions in the lungs of CPFE patients.

Results: The expression profiles of the fibrotic and emphysematous lesions were remarkably different in terms of function. Genes related to the immune system, structural constituents of the cytoskeleton, and cellular adhesion were overexpressed in fibrotic lesions, while genes associated with the cellular fraction, cell membrane structures, vascular growth and biology, second-messenger-mediated signaling, and lung development (all processes that contribute to the destruction and repair of cells, vessels, and the lung) were overexpressed in emphysematous lesions.

Conclusions: The differences in gene expression were detected in fibrotic and emphysematous lesions in CPFE patients. We propose that the development of coexisting fibrotic and emphysematous lesions in CPFE is implemented by these different patterns of gene expressions.