Systemic Sclerosis Dermal Fibroblasts Induce Cutaneous Fibrosis Through Lysyl Oxidase-like 4: New Evidence From Three-Dimensional Skin-like Tissues.
Mengqi HuangGuoshuai CaiLauren M BaughZhiyi LiuAvi SmithMatthew WatsonDillon PopovichTianyue ZhangLukasz S StawskiMaria TrojanowskaIrene GeorgakoudiLauren D BlackPatricia A PioliMichael L WhitfieldJonathan GarlickPublished in: Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) (2020)
A limitation to the development of effective therapeutics in SSc is the lack of in vitro human model systems that replicate human skin. Our findings demonstrate that SAS and HSE can serve as complementary in vitro skin-like models for investigation of the mechanisms and mediators that drive fibrosis in SSc and implicate a pivotal role for LOXL-4 in SSc pathogenesis.