TGF-β/Smad3 signalling regulates the transition of bone marrow-derived macrophages into myofibroblasts during tissue fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: Myofibroblasts are a main cell-type of collagen-producing cells during tissue fibrosis, but their origins remains controversial. While bone marrow-derived myofibroblasts in renal fibrosis has been reported, the cell origin and mechanisms regulating their transition into myofibroblasts remain undefined. In the present study, cell lineage tracing studies by adoptive transfer of GFP+ or dye-labelled macrophages identified that monocyte/macrophages from bone marrow can give rise to myofibroblasts via the process of macrophage-myofibroblast transition (MMT) in a mouse model of unilateral ureteric obstruction. The MMT cells were a major source of collagen-producing fibroblasts in the fibrosing kidney, accounting for more than 60% of α-SMA+ myofibroblasts. The MMT process occurred predominantly w

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4891006 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature