Aims. Tissue fibrosis, a major health problem that affects all vital organs, estimated to be involved in 45% of all deaths in developed countries. We have previously shown that cardiac fibroblasts display a unique cardiogenic identity, important for cardiac pathological remodelling. We therefore speculated whether fibroblasts from different organ systems would display a molecular signature unique to their organ of origin.
Methods. Transcriptomic profiles were obtained from adult mouse tissue fibroblast samples (heart, kidney, liver, lung, skin and tail), using two independent technologies: microarray and single-cell transcriptomic sequencing. Gene ontology analysis, bioinformatics analyses and visualisation were performed in R, MeV and Bioconductor.
Results. Here we demonstrate that fibroblasts isolated from the adult mouse skin, lung, kidney, gonad and liver retain a molecular positional and organ signature, similar to heart fibroblasts, and this identity is most likely a remnant from embryonic development. This information opens novel opportunities for the treatment of fibrotic diseases in an organ-specific manner.
Conclusions. Systems analysis coupled with human-driven data exploration can be a powerful tool for understanding the development and diseases associated with fibroblasts.