Tamar R Abel, Noelle N Kosarek, Rezvan Parvizi, Helen Jarnagin, Gretel M Torres, Rajan Bhandari, Mengqi Huang, Diana M Toledo, Avi Smith, Dillon Popovich, Michael P Mariani, Heetaek Yang, Tammara Wood, Jonathan Garlick, Patricia A Pioli, Michael L Whitfield
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by skin fibrosis, internal organ involvement and vascular dropout. We previously developed and phenotypically characterized an in vitro 3D skin-like tissue model of SSc, and now analyze the transcriptomic (scRNA-seq) and epigenetic (scATAC-seq) characteristics of this model at single-cell resolution. SSc 3D skin-like tissues were fabricated using autologous fibroblasts, macrophages, and plasma from SSc patients or healthy control (HC) donors. SSc tissues displayed increased dermal thickness and contractility, as well as increased α-SMA staining...
March 27, 2024: bioRxiv