Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026

A Mouse Model to Investigate the Role of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Tumor Growth
Published on: December 22, 2020
Fibrillin-1 Orchestrates a Pro-senescent Niche Driving Peritubular Endothelial Senescence via
Junxin Huang1,2, Xiaoyao Zhang1,2, Zifu Yao1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Multi-organ Injury Prevention and Treatment, National Clinical Research Center for Kidney and Urological Diseases, Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Microvascular rarefaction is a predominant pathological hallmark of chronic kidney disease (CKD), functioning simultaneously as a catalyst and consequence of progressive renal compromise. Although endothelial senescence constitutes a cardinal mediator of microvascular attrition in CKD, its upstream regulatory mechanism remains elusive. Here, using integrated single-cell/spatial transcriptomics, decellularized scaffold modeling, diverse murine CKD models, vascular ultrasonography, and tissue-clearing-enabled 3D imaging, we identify fibrillin-1 (FBN1), a core constituent of the fibrogenic niche, as an architect of a pro-senescent microenvironment that directly triggers endothelial senescence. Mechanistically, FBN1 upregulates the transcription factor ZEB1, which binds to the EDN1 promoter to enhance endothelin-1 (ET-1) transcription, thereby activating the ET-1/β-catenin signaling axis to execute cellular senescence. This cascade is abolished by ZEB1 knockdown, ET-1 receptor antagonism, or β-catenin inhibition. Importantly, tubule-specific Fbn1 deletion suppresses endothelial senescence, attenuates capillary rarefaction, and ameliorates renal function across CKD models. Our study unveils the FBN1/ZEB1/ET-1/β-catenin axis as a spatially organized signaling pathway linking to endothelial senescence, demonstrating how matrix-embedded components actively perpetuate pathogenesis by orchestrating stable pathological microenvironments. These findings provide a conceptual framework for CKD-associated vascular deterioration and highlight microenvironmental reprogramming as a therapeutic paradigm.
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Angiogenesis and Blood Supply
Role of Ephrin-Eph Signalling in Intestinal Stem Cell Renewal
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin homology) domains...
Cell Motility through Blebbing
Blebbing Through the Matrix
In multicellular...
