Mechanical Feed-Forward Loops Contribute to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive scarring disease characterized by extracellular matrix accumulation and altered mechanical properties of lung tissue. Recent studies support the hypothesis that these compositional and mechanical changes create a progressive feed-forward loop in which enhanced matrix deposition and tissue stiffening contribute to fibroblast and myofibroblast differentiation and activation, which further perpetuates matrix production and stiffening. The biomechanical properties of tissues are sensed and responded to by mechanotransduction pathways that facilitate sensing of changes in mechanical cues by tissue resident cells and convert the mechanical signals into downstream biochemical signals. Although our understanding of mechanotransduction pathways associa

SUBMITTER: Freeberg MAT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7768346 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature