Perspective Article: Tissue repair, contraction, and the myofibroblast

After the first description of the myofibroblast in granulation tissue of an open wound by means of electron microscopy, as an intermediate cell between the fibroblast and the smooth muscle cell, the myofibroblast has been identified both in normal tissues, particularly in locations where there is a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWound repair and regeneration Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 7 - 12
Main Authors Desmoulière, Alexis, Chaponnier, Christine, Gabbiani, Giulio
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK; Malden, USA Blackwell Science Inc 01.01.2005
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Summary:After the first description of the myofibroblast in granulation tissue of an open wound by means of electron microscopy, as an intermediate cell between the fibroblast and the smooth muscle cell, the myofibroblast has been identified both in normal tissues, particularly in locations where there is a necessity of mechanical force development, and in pathological tissues, in relation with hypertrophic scarring, fibromatoses and fibrocontractive diseases as well as in the stroma reaction to epithelial tumors. It is now accepted that fibroblast/myofibroblast transition begins with the appearance of the protomyofibroblast, whose stress fibers contain only β‐ and γ‐cytoplasmic actins and evolves, but not necessarily always, into the appearance of the differentiated myofibroblast, the most common variant of this cell, with stress fibers containing α‐smooth muscle actin. Myofibroblast differentiation is a complex process, regulated by at least a cytokine (the transforming growth factor‐β1), an extracellular matrix component (the ED‐A splice variant of cellular fibronectin), as well as the presence of mechanical tension. The myofibroblast is a key cell for the connective tissue remodeling that takes place during wound healing and fibrosis development. On this basis, the myofibroblast may represent a new important target for improving the evolution of such diseases as hypertrophic scars, and liver, kidney or pulmonary fibrosis.
Bibliography:istex:5868B76971106A8C70E8CBE9174584E1A2EF9FC8
ArticleID:WRR130102
ark:/67375/WNG-8NF4J4HD-N
ISSN:1067-1927
1524-475X
DOI:10.1111/j.1067-1927.2005.130102.x