Feiyang Ma, Pei-Suen Tsou, Mehrnaz Gharaee-Kermani, Olesya Plazyo, Xianying Xing, Joseph Kirma, Rachael Wasikowski, Grace A Hile, Paul W Harms, Yanyun Jiang, Enze Xing, Mio Nakamura, Danielle Ochocki, William D Brodie, Shiv Pillai, Emanual Maverakis, Matteo Pellegrini, Robert L Modlin, John Varga, Lam C Tsoi, Robert Lafyatis, J Michelle Kahlenberg, Allison C Billi, Dinesh Khanna, Johann E Gudjonsson
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a devastating autoimmune disease characterized by excessive production and accumulation of extracellular matrix, leading to fibrosis of skin and other internal organs. However, the main cellular participants in SSc skin fibrosis remain incompletely understood. Here using differentiation trajectories at a single cell level, we demonstrate a dual source of extracellular matrix deposition in SSc skin from both myofibroblasts and endothelial-to-mesenchymal-transitioning cells (EndoMT)...
January 3, 2024: Nature Communications