02 November 2024
Contact to Contract
Scarring after injury or fibrosis can be fatal as it renders tissue functionally useless. Cells called fibroblasts drive this kind of inappropriate repair, and this study reveals that contact with a kind of macrophage (large cells of the immune system, shown here in red) triggers the fibroblast (in green) – via interaction of two proteins, αvβ3 integrin on the macrophage with Piezo1 on the fibroblast – to contract ultimately leading to stiffened tissue
Read the published research article here
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