Healing scars: targeting pericytes to treat fibrosis

Fibrosis, with resultant loss of organ function, is the endpoint of many diseases. Despite this, no effective anti-fibrotic therapies exist. The myofibroblast is the key cell driving fibrosis but its origins remain controversial. A growing body of work provides strong evidence that the pericyte, a perivascular cell present throughout the microvasculature, is a major myofibroblast precursor in multiple tissues. This review summarizes the principle experimental and clinical evidence underpinning this conclusion and outlines strategies for targeting pericyte transdifferentiation during fibrogenesis. Successful targeting of pro-fibrogenic pericytes has the potential to halt or even reverse fibrosis and thus reduce the enormous worldwide healthcare burden that currently exists as a result of fibrotic disease.