Regulation of Skin Fibrosis by RALDH1-producing Dermal Dendritic Cells via Retinoic Acid-mediated Regulatory T cell Induction: a Role in Scleroderma

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem autoimmune and vascular disease resulting in multiple organ fibrosis [1,2], in which skin fibrosis is caused by the combination of dermal fibroblast activation [3 –6], Th2/Th17-skewed immune polarization [7,8], M2 macrophage differentiation [9], aberrant B cell activation [10,11], increased infiltration of plasmacytoid dendritic cells [12], vascular functional and structural abnormalities [13–16] and epithelial cell activation [17–20]. In particular, im mune cells seem to play a central role because immunosuppressants and/or corticosteroids are mostly effective for skin fibrosis.

Source: Journal of Dermatological Science - January 13, 2020 Category: Dermatology Authors: Shunsuke Miura, Yoshihide Asano, Ryosuke Saigusa, Takashi Yamashita, Takashi Taniguchi, Takehiro Takahashi, Yohei Ichimura, Tetsuo Toyama, Ayumi Yoshizaki, Shinichi Sato, Takafumi Kadono Source Type: research