A bird’s eye view of fibroblast heterogeneity: A pan‐disease, pan‐cancer perspective
Fibroblasts, custodians of tissue architecture and function, are no longer considered a monolithic entity across tissues and disease indications. Recent advances in single‐cell technologies provide an unrestricted, high‐resolution view of fibroblast heterogeneity that exists within and across tissue...
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Published in | Immunological reviews Vol. 302; no. 1; pp. 299 - 320 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Hoboken
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
01.07.2021
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Fibroblasts, custodians of tissue architecture and function, are no longer considered a monolithic entity across tissues and disease indications. Recent advances in single‐cell technologies provide an unrestricted, high‐resolution view of fibroblast heterogeneity that exists within and across tissues. In this review, we summarize a compendium of single‐cell transcriptomic studies and provide a comprehensive accounting of fibroblast subsets, many of which have been described to occupy specific niches in tissues at homeostatic and pathologic states. Understanding this heterogeneity is particularly important in the context of cancer, as the diverse cancer‐associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotypes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are directly impacted by the expression phenotypes of their predecessors. Relationships between these heterogeneous populations often accompany and influence response to therapy in cancer and fibrosis. We further highlight the importance of integrating single‐cell studies to deduce common fibroblast phenotypes across disease states, which will facilitate the identification of common signaling pathways, gene regulatory programs, and cell surface markers that are going to advance drug discovery and targeting. |
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Bibliography: | Pradhan and Krishnamurty equal contribution. This article is part of a series of reviews covering Immunological functions of fibroblasts in human health and disease appearing in Volume 302 of Immunological Reviews. ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 |
ISSN: | 0105-2896 1600-065X |
DOI: | 10.1111/imr.12990 |