Figure 3.

Fibrosis results from imbalanced homeostasis of extracellular matrix (ECM). While current efforts to optimize therapeutic intervention mostly target synthesis of ECM and, in many cases, different types of collagens, accumulating evidence suggests that attenuation of degradation may be a key factor driving fibrosis. The figure was adapted from Latosinska et al. [64]. Abbreviations: ECM: extracellular matrix; MMPs: matrix metalloproteinases.