Fibroblasts are not just fibroblasts: clear differences between dermal and pulmonary fibroblasts' response to fibrotic growth factors

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Fulltext

    Final published version, 2.12 MB, PDF document

  • Sofie Falkenløve Madsen
  • Jannie Marie Bülow Sand
  • Pernille Juhl
  • Morten Karsdal
  • Christian S. Thudium
  • Anne Sofie Siebuhr
  • Anne Christine Bay-Jensen

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) hallmark is skin fibrosis, but up to 80% of the patients have fibrotic involvement in the pulmonary system. Antifibrotic drugs which have failed in a general SSc population have now been approved in patients with SSc-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD). This indicates that the fibrotic progression and regulation of fibroblasts likely depend on local factors specific to the tissue type. This study investigated the difference between dermal and pulmonary fibroblasts in a fibrotic setting, mimicking the extracellular matrix. Primary healthy fibroblasts were grown in a crowded environment and stimulated with TGF-β1 and PDGF-AB. The viability, morphology, migration capacity, extracellular matrix formation, and gene expression were assessed: TGF-β1 only increased the viability in the dermal fibroblasts. PDGF-AB increased the migration capacity of dermal fibroblasts while the pulmonary fibroblasts fully migrated. The morphology of the fibroblasts was different without stimulation. TGF-β1 increased the formation of type III collagen in pulmonary fibroblasts, while PDGF-AB increased it in dermal fibroblasts. The gene expression trend of type VI collagen was the opposite after PDGF-AB stimulation. The fibroblasts exhibit different response profiles to TGF-β1 and PDGF-AB; this suggests that drivers of fibrosis are tissue-dependent, which needs to be considered in drug development.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9411
JournalScientific Reports
Volume13
Issue number1
Number of pages12
ISSN2045-2322
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023. The Author(s).

ID: 358431044