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By studying blood vessels at single cell resolution, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) Professor Jagdeep Nanchahal and colleagues found that in Dupuytren’s disease, a fibrotic disorder of the hand, the vasculature is key to orchestrating the development of human fibrosis.

3D rendered image of blood cells

The team has previously shown that development of myofibroblasts, the cells responsible for deposition of the excessive matrix and contraction, is dependent on production of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) by local immune cells. The research, published in PNAS showed that endothelial cells lining the blood vessels modulate the activity of immune regulatory fibroblasts, which secrete mediators that attract the immune cells. They also identified that a potential myofibroblast precursor cell that is contained within a compartment of cells called pericytes that wrap around the blood vessel wall.

First author on the paper, Dr Thomas Layton, who started the work as a Kennedy DPhil student at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology said: "This study illustrates the potential of using state of the art molecular biology techniques to relatively under studied diseases."

Read the full story on the NDORMS website