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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Matrix Biol. 2017 Dec 14;67:90–106. doi: 10.1016/j.matbio.2017.12.003

Figure 6. A convergence of ECM composition, elasticity, and TGF-β signaling governs activated fibroblast phenotypic heterogeneity.

Figure 6

In FN-rich ECMs of low stiffness, TGF-β promotes the FAPHiαSMALow reactive fibroblast phenotype. Conversely, TGF-β promotes the FAPLowαSMAHi myofibroblast phenotype in the context of stiff and/or COL I-rich ECMs. Gene expression profiling indicates unique functionality of these divergent fibroblast subsets in tissue remodeling, with FAPHi reactive fibroblasts exhibiting an ECM synthetic and proteolytic phenotype, and αSMAHi myofibroblasts exhibiting a contractile and proliferative phenotype.