Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022 03 23;119(13):e2120336119. Epub 2022 Mar 23.
The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7FY, United Kingdom.
SignificanceTissue fibrotic diseases, for example of the liver and lung, represent a huge unmet medical need. In this study, using single-cell RNA sequencing, cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF), tissue imaging, and functional assays, we identify a complex vascular niche in Dupuytren's disease (DD), a common localized fibrotic condition of the palm, where early-disease-stage tissue can be accessed readily. We uncover a population of myofibroblast precursors within the pericyte compartment and demonstrate that the endothelium instructs the differentiation of functionally distinct stromal cells, thereby orchestrating discrete microenvironments in the fibrotic milieu. Read More