Myocardin-related transcription factors A and B are key regulators of TGF-β1-induced fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Myofibroblasts are contractile, smooth muscle-like cells that are characterized by the de novo expression of smooth muscle α-actin (SMαA) and normally function to assist in wound closure, but have been implicated in pathological contractures. Transforming growth factor β-1 (TGF-β1) helps facilitate the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts, but the exact mechanism by which this differentiation occurs, in response to TGF-β1, remains unclear. Myocardin-related transcription factors A and B (MRTFs, MRTF-A/B) are transcriptional co-activators that regulate the expression of smooth muscle-specific cytoskeletal proteins, including SMαA, in smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. In this study, we demonstrate that TGF-β1 mediates myofibroblast differentiation and the expression of a con

SUBMITTER: Crider BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3199034 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature