Deletion of adipocyte Sine Oculis Homeobox Homolog 1 prevents lipolysis and attenuates skin fibrosis.

Fat atrophy may represent a targetable contributor to early systemic sclerosis manifestations. This is as it precedes skin fibrosis and the use of topical agent which are usually lipophilic can help us target dermal adipocytes. Our results show that SIX1 could be an important early marker for skin fibrosis in SSc that can also be targeted therapeutically.