Pathogenic Activation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Is Induced by the Disease Microenvironment in Systemic Sclerosis

Objective In systemic sclerosis ( SS c), a persistent tissue repair process leads to progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. The role of mesenchymal stem cells ( MSC s), which characteristically initiate and regulate tissue repair, has not been fully evaluated. We undertook this study to investigate whether dividing metakaryotic MSC s are present in SS c skin and to examine whether exposure to the disease microenvironment activates...