UnTWISTing intestinal fibrosis: single-cell transcriptomics deciphers fibroblast heterogeneity, uncovers molecular pathways, and identifies therapeutic targets

Intestinal fibrosis is a severe complication of Crohn's disease, often requiring surgical intervention. Despite extensive research efforts, an effective treatment to prevent or reverse intestinal fibrosis remains elusive. In this issue of the JCI, Zhang, Wang, and colleagues employed single-cel...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in	The Journal of clinical investigation Vol. 134; no. 18; pp. 1 - 3
Main Authors	Santacroce, Giovanni, Di Sabatino, Antonio
Format	Journal Article
Language	English
Published	United States American Society for Clinical Investigation 17.09.2024
Subjects	Animals Care and treatment Cells Colorectal diseases Crohn Disease - genetics Crohn Disease - metabolism Crohn Disease - pathology Crohn's disease Extracellular matrix Fibroblasts Fibroblasts - metabolism Fibroblasts - pathology Fibrosis Gastrointestinal diseases Genetic aspects Health aspects Humans Hyperplasia Inflammation Inflammatory bowel disease Intestine Intestines - pathology Macrophages Macrophages - metabolism Macrophages - pathology Medical research Medicine, Experimental Microenvironments Nuclear Proteins Pathogenesis Physiological aspects RNA sequencing Single-Cell Analysis Smooth muscle Therapeutic targets Transcription factors Transcriptome Transcriptomics Transforming growth factors Twist-Related Protein 1 - genetics Twist-Related Protein 1 - metabolism Italy
Online Access	Get full text
ISSN	1558-8238 0021-9738 1558-8238
DOI	10.1172/JCI184112

Cover

More Information
Summary:	Intestinal fibrosis is a severe complication of Crohn's disease, often requiring surgical intervention. Despite extensive research efforts, an effective treatment to prevent or reverse intestinal fibrosis remains elusive. In this issue of the JCI, Zhang, Wang, and colleagues employed single-cell RNA sequencing to uncover mechanisms of the fibrotic process. They identified a key fibroblast subset of TWIST1+FAP+ cells that interacts with CXCL9+ macrophages. TWIST1 emerged as a central regulator of the fibrotic microenvironment, representing a promising therapeutic target for effectively treating intestinal fibrosis.
Bibliography:	SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Commentary-1 content type line 14 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 ObjectType-Commentary-3 content type line 23
ISSN:	1558-8238 0021-9738 1558-8238
DOI:	10.1172/JCI184112