Suppressing the Origins of Fibrosis

Fibrosis is a type of scarring in which excessive connective tissue is created in response to damage. It plays an important role in the pathology of a range of age-related conditions, but does this process have its origins in a sufficiently narrow set of mechanisms that it could be selectively suppressed or disabled entirely in the near future? [Researchers] have identified what they believe to be the cells responsible for fibrosis, the buildup of scar tissue. Fibrotic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease and failure, lung disease, heart failure and cirrhosis of the liver, are estimated to be responsible for up to 45 percent of deaths in the developed world. "Previous research indicated that myofibroblasts are the cells responsible for fibrosis. But there was controversy around the origin of this cell. Identifying the origin could lead to targeted therapies for these very common diseases." With the knowledge that fibrosis appears to radiate from blood vessels, [researchers] examined the hedgehog signaling pathway, which normally regulates organ development but whose roles in the adult are less clear. They noticed that in adult mice, a hedgehog pathway gene called Gli1 was specifically expressed in a rare group of cells located around blood vessels in all solid organs. This pattern suggested that the cells might play a role in fibrosis. To test this hypothesis the researchers tagged this protein in tissue with varying forms of fibrosis, and found that these cells prolife...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs