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Circulating Fibrocytes Define a New Leukocyte Subpopulation That Mediates Tissue Repair

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Abstract

Background

The host response to tissue injury requires a complex interplay of diverse cellular, humoral, and connective tissue elements. Fibroblasts participate in this process by proliferating within injured sites and contributing to scar formation and the long-term remodeling of damaged tissue. Fibroblasts present in areas of tissue injury generally have been regarded to arise by recruitment from surrounding connective tissue; however this may not be the only source of these cells.

Materials and Methods

Long-term culture of adherent, human, and murine leukocyte subpopulations was combined with a variety of immunofluorescence and functional analyses to identify a blood-borne cell type with fibroblast-like properties.

Results

We describe for the first time a population of circulating cells with fibroblast properties that specifically enter sites of tissue injury. This novel cell type, termed a “fibrocyte,” was characterized by its distinctive phenotype (collagen+/vimentin+/CD34+), by its rapid entry from blood into subcutaneously implanted wound chambers, and by its presence in connective tissue scars.

Conclusions

Blood-borne fibrocytes contribute to scar formation and may play an important role both in normal wound repair and in pathological fibrotic responses.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Peter Gregersen for assistance with the FACS analyses, Tom Donnelly for help with the bone marrow chimera experiments, and David Phillips for the electron microscopy studies. We are also grateful to Barbara Sherry and John Eaton for helpful discussions. These studies were supported by a grant from the Arthritis Foundation and NIH #R01 AI-29110.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Picower Institute for Medical Research, 350 Community Drive, Manhasset, New York, 11030, USA

    Richard Bucala, Lori A. Spiegel, Jason Chesney, Margaret Hogan & Anthony Cerami

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  1. Richard Bucala
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  2. Lori A. Spiegel
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  3. Jason Chesney
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  4. Margaret Hogan
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  5. Anthony Cerami
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Bucala, R., Spiegel, L.A., Chesney, J. et al. Circulating Fibrocytes Define a New Leukocyte Subpopulation That Mediates Tissue Repair. Mol Med 1, 71–81 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403533

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