Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Sep 4.
Published in final edited form as: Annu Rev Physiol. 2012 Dec 3;75:23–47. doi: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-030212-183802

Figure 2. Fibroblasts play a central role in the control of vascular function.

Figure 2

Fibroblasts produce and organize elements of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and also degrade structural elements of the ECM; they secrete a complex mixture of growth factors, cytokines, chemokines; they communicate with neural cells, with cells of hematopoietic origin (dendritic cells, macrophages, T-lymphocytes), with SMC, endothelial and epithelial cells; importantly, this communication is reciprocal (5). (Adapted from: Sorrell et al., “Fibroblasts: a diverse population at the center of it all.”).