Original title: Single-cell analysis reveals fibroblast heterogeneity and myeloid-derived adipocyte progenitors in murine skin wounds
A wound’s fibroblasts, cells that help repair tissue, are not all alike: the researchers found twelve groups. Some groups seem to be stages on the way to becoming contractile myofibroblasts, while others appear to be separate lineages. One group carries markers linked to blood-forming cells. Lineage-tracing tests showed that some cells from this group become myofibroblasts and, rarely, regenerated fat cells.
Imagine a kitchen where several people help prepare a meal. Some are moving through steps toward one job, while others belong to separate teams. A few helpers arrive from another part of the building and end up making some of the food. In this paper, the kitchen helpers are wound cells: the researchers track which groups change into contractile repair cells and which can contribute to regenerated fat.
Skin wounds can rebuild fat as they heal, and this work finds that a small number of regenerated fat cells may come from myeloid cells, a group of immune-lineage cells. Knowing which cells contribute could help researchers understand how wound repair reshapes skin.
The abstract reports findings in adult mouse skin wounds. It does not establish whether the same cell origins occur in human wounds, how often they occur beyond describing regenerated adipocytes as rare, or what controls the process.
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Single-cell analysis reveals fibroblast heterogeneity and myeloid-derived adipocyte progenitors in murine skin wounds — Christian Fernando Guerrero‐Juarez, Priya H. Dedhia, Suoqin Jin et al. — Nature Communications — doi:10.1038/s41467-018-08247-x
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.