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Myofibroblasts upregulate the expression of fibronectin, collagens, and hyaluronic acid during and after their differentiation from fibroblasts. Among these, the EDA isoform of fibronectin (EDA-FN), and collagen type I ( COL1A1 / COL1A2 ) are typical markers of myofibroblast-dependent synthesis of pro-fibrotic extracellular matrix.
Histopathologically, FMTs consist of neoplastic connective tissue cells which have differented into cells that have microscopic appearances resembling fibroblasts and/or myofibroblasts. The fibroblastic cells are characterized as spindle-shaped cells with inconspicuous nucleoli that express vimentin , an intracellular protein typically found in ...
Cardiac fibrosis commonly refers to the excess deposition of extracellular matrix in the cardiac muscle, but the term may also refer to an abnormal thickening of the heart valves due to inappropriate proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts. [1] Fibrotic cardiac muscle is stiffer and less compliant and is seen in the progression to heart failure.
Fibroblasts play a crucial role in responding to injury, such as a myocardial infarction. Following injury, fibroblasts can become activated and turn into myofibroblasts – cells which exhibit behaviour somewhere between a fibroblast (generating extracellular matrix) and a smooth muscle cell (ability to contract). In this capacity, fibroblasts ...
The normal fibroblast cells receive a hormone signal from nearby cancer cells, indicating that it must become activated, and is thus classed as a CAF. [2] It is unclear why normal fibroblasts transition into CAFs but it has been found that by adding transforming growth factor-β to fibroblasts in culture they start to display features of CAFs. [26]
Fibroblasts can also migrate slowly over substratum as individual cells, again in contrast to epithelial cells. While epithelial cells form the lining of body structures, fibroblasts and related connective tissues sculpt the "bulk" of an organism. The life span of a fibroblast, as measured in chick embryos, is 57 ± 3 days. [4]
Fibrosis can occur in many tissues within the body, typically as a result of inflammation or damage. Common sites of fibrosis include the lungs, liver, kidneys, brain, and heart: Micrograph showing cirrhosis of the liver. The tissue in this example is stained with a trichrome stain, in which fibrosis is colored blue.
Recently, the term "fibrocyte" has also been applied to a bloodborne cell able to leave the blood, enter tissue and become a fibroblast. As part of the more general topic of stem cell biology , a number of studies have suggested that the blood contains marrow derived cells that can differentiate into fibroblasts.