Special Issue "Current Concepts in Tissue Fibrosis—Common and Distinct Pathways"

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anna Szóstek-Mioduchowska
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Reproductive Immunology and Pathology, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 10-748 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: fibrosis; ECM remodeling; immunology; cytokine; reproduction; endometrium; endometrial disorders
Dr. Graça Ferreira-Dias
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Morphology and Function, CIISA- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: reproduction; mare; corpus luteum; oviduct; endometrium; endometrosis; endocrinology; cytokines; fibrosis; epigenetics
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Beenu Moza Jalali
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, 10-748 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: reproduction; implantation; immunology; proteomics; endometrial remodeling; embryo development
Dr. Joanna Bukowska
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, 10-748 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: wound healing; regenerative medicine; stem cells

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Around 45% of total human deaths, worldwide, are caused by fibrotic diseases. Over-production of extracellular matrix components is a commonly observed hallmark of fibrotic diseases and ultimately results in a severely scarred, rigid, and functionally impaired organ. Chronic fibrosis affects multiple organ systems including the heart, lung, kidney, liver, skin, and uterus. Although, fibrosis is a well-recognized cause of morbidity and mortality, current therapies for fibrosis are scarce and of limited efficacy. The medical need for effective antifibrotic therapies is, thus, remarkably high. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand the pathogenesis of fibrosis, considering its onset, putative regression, or mostly its chronic and permanent establishment. This knowledge will surely contribute to the identification of potential therapeutic approaches. A feasible strategy to treat fibrosis is to target common mechanisms and core pathways that are of central pathophysiological relevance across different fibrotic diseases. The underlying molecular and cellular events of fibrotic diseases share many functional similarities, despite differences in etiology and clinical outcome. Studies conducted on fibrosis use cell-culture systems, and in vivo model systems. Since ethical and methodological approaches restrain the study of fibrosis in humans, animal models provide good alternatives. Spontaneous fibrosis occurs in animal species, including dogs, horses, donkeys, and cats. Thus, owing to shared mechanisms of fibrosis in many diseases, research performed on animals could be translated to humans. We would like to invite all investigators working on fibrosis using in vitro and in vivo methods in human and animal species to share their knowledge about fibrosis biology with the scientific community in this Special Issue.

Dr. Anna Szóstek-Mioduchowska
Dr. Graça Ferreira-Dias
Dr. Beenu Moza Jalali
Dr. Joanna Bukowska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fibrosis
  • tissue remodeling
  • animal models
  • immune cells
  • inflammation
  • extracellular matrix
  • markers of fibrosis
  • uncontrolled wound healing
  • organ dysfunction

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

Review
New Insights into Profibrotic Myofibroblast Formation in Systemic Sclerosis: When the Vascular Wall Becomes the Enemy
Life 2021, 11(7), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/life11070610 - 24 Jun 2021
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Abstract
In systemic sclerosis (SSc), abnormalities in microvessel morphology occur early and evolve into a distinctive vasculopathy that relentlessly advances in parallel with the development of tissue fibrosis orchestrated by myofibroblasts in nearly all affected organs. Our knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms [...] Read more.
In systemic sclerosis (SSc), abnormalities in microvessel morphology occur early and evolve into a distinctive vasculopathy that relentlessly advances in parallel with the development of tissue fibrosis orchestrated by myofibroblasts in nearly all affected organs. Our knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying such a unique relationship between SSc-related vasculopathy and fibrosis has profoundly changed over the last few years. Indeed, increasing evidence has suggested that endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), a process in which profibrotic myofibroblasts originate from endothelial cells, may take center stage in SSc pathogenesis. While in arterioles and small arteries EndoMT may lead to the accumulation of myofibroblasts within the vessel wall and development of fibroproliferative vascular lesions, in capillary vessels it may instead result in vascular destruction and formation of myofibroblasts that migrate into the perivascular space with consequent tissue fibrosis and microvessel rarefaction, which are hallmarks of SSc. Besides endothelial cells, other vascular wall-resident cells, such as pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells, may acquire a myofibroblast-like synthetic phenotype contributing to both SSc-related vascular dysfunction and fibrosis. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the differentiation of myofibroblasts inside the vessel wall provides the rationale for novel targeted therapeutic strategies for the treatment of SSc. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Concepts in Tissue Fibrosis—Common and Distinct Pathways)
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Review
Lung Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis
Life 2021, 11(2), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/life11020094 - 27 Jan 2021
Viewed by 820
Abstract
The defective mucociliary clearance due to CFTR malfunctioning causes predisposition to the colonization of pathogens responsible for the recurrent inflammation and rapid deterioration of lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This has also a profound effect on the lung microbiome composition, [...] Read more.
The defective mucociliary clearance due to CFTR malfunctioning causes predisposition to the colonization of pathogens responsible for the recurrent inflammation and rapid deterioration of lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This has also a profound effect on the lung microbiome composition, causing a progressive reduction in its diversity, which has become a common characteristic of patients affected by CF. Although we know that the lung microbiome plays an essential role in maintaining lung physiology, our comprehension of how the microbial components interact with each other and the lung, as well as how these interactions change during the disease’s course, is still at an early stage. Many challenges exist and many questions still to be answered, but there is no doubt that manipulation of the lung microbiome could help to develop better therapies for people affected by CF. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Concepts in Tissue Fibrosis—Common and Distinct Pathways)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Author: Dr. Anna Szóstek-Mioduchowska
Affiliation: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Author: Dr. Joanna Bukowska
Affiliation: Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences

Author: Dr.  Isabel Faust
Affiliation: University Clinic of the Ruhr University Bochum

Author: Dr.  Francesco Del Gald
Affiliation: University of Leeds

Author: Dr.  Jung Eun Kim
Affiliation: The Catholic University of Korea

Author: Dr.  Francesco Salton
Affiliation: University Hospital of Trieste

Author: Dr.  Masamitsu Ichihashi
Affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Internal Medicine, Shinbashi, Japan

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