Review
The role of fibrocytes in fibrotic diseases of the lungs and heart
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* Corresponding author: Robert M Strieter Strieter@Virginia.edu
1 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Lee Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA
2 Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Lee Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA
Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair 2011, 4:2 doi:10.1186/1755-1536-4-2
Published: 10 January 2011Abstract
Fibrosis is the end result of a complex series of events that follow tissue injury and inflammation. Pathophysiologic fibrosis results in permanent scar formation, and can impair organ function. Fibrocytes are circulating, bone-marrow-derived progenitor cells that traffic from the bone marrow to the injured organ via the bloodstream, where they differentiate into fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, and play a pivotal role in both physiologic and aberrant fibrosis. In this review, we focus on the contribution of fibrocytes to fibrotic diseases of the lungs and the heart, including interstitial lung diseases, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, atherosclerosis and ischemic cardiomyopathy.