title: Mesothelial cells in tissue repair and fibrosis.
abstract: Mesothelial cells are fundamental to the maintenance of serosal integrity and homeostasis and play a critical role in normal serosal repair following injury. However, when normal repair mechanisms breakdown, mesothelial cells take on a profibrotic role, secreting inflammatory, and profibrotic mediators, differentiating and migrating into the injured tissues where they contribute to fibrogenesis. The development of new molecular and cell tracking techniques has made it possible to examine the origin of fibrotic cells within damaged tissues and to elucidate the roles they play in inflammation and fibrosis. In addition to secreting proinflammatory mediators and contributing to both coagulation and fibrinolysis, mesothelial cells undergo mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, a process analogous to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and become fibrogenic cells. Fibrogenic mesothelial cells have now been identified in tissues where they have not previously been thought to occur, such as within the parenchyma of the fibrotic lung. These findings show a direct role for mesothelial cells in fibrogenesis and open therapeutic strategies to prevent or reverse the fibrotic process.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research , Nedlands, WA, Australia ; Institute for Respiratory Health, Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia , Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mutsaers
authors.affiliation: Institute for Respiratory Health, Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia , Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Birnie
authors.affiliation: Institute for Respiratory Health, Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia , Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lansley
authors.affiliation: Institute of Inflammation and Repair, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester , Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Herrick
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research , Nedlands, WA, Australia ; Institute for Respiratory Health, Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia , Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Chuan-Bian
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research , Nedlands, WA, Australia ; Institute for Respiratory Health, Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia , Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Cecilia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Prêle
keywords: coagulation and fibrinolysis; extracellular matrix; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; inflammation; mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition; post-operative adhesion; tissue repair and fibrosis