Powell, D. W., R. C. Mifflin, J. D. Valentich, S. E. Crowe, J. I. Saada, and A. B. West. Myofibroblasts. I. Paracrine cells important in health and disease. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Cell Physiol. 46): C1–C19, 1999.—Myofibroblasts are a unique group of smooth-muscle-like fibroblasts that have a similar appearance and function regardless of their tissue of residence. Through the secretion of inflamma...

The myofibroblast is a connective tissue cell with intermediate features between the fibroblast and the smooth muscle cell and unknown origin, which normally is present in only a few organs, but with increased incidence in malignancies. The patterns of myofibroblastic reaction may be synchronous, metachronous and mixed. The presence of the myofibroblasts has been demonstrated into the stroma of...

Cancer progression involves changes in extracellular proteolysis, but the contribution of stromal cell secretomes to the cancer degradome remains uncertain. We have now defined the secretome of a specific stromal cell type, the myofibroblast, in gastric cancer and its modification by proteolysis. SILAC labeling and COFRADIC isolation of methionine containing peptides allowed us to quantify diff...

The histogenesis of depressed adenoma of the colon has not been sufficiently investigated. Pericryptal myofibroblasts are stromal cells expressing smooth muscle actin, and are involved in the differentiation and multiplication of epithelial cells in the colonic epithelium. COX-2 has been reported to be involved in the development of colon adenoma. We studied the histogenesis of depressed adenom...

Pancreatic fibrosis develops as the results of the activity of myofibroblasts capable of producing collagens. The myofibroblasts derive from pancreatic interstitial cells, including pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), which can express glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). First, we investigated the expression patterns of vimentin, desmin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), Thy-1 and GFAP in the de...

Myofibroblasts differentiate, invade and repair injured tissues by secreting and organizing the extracellular matrix and by developing contractile forces. When tissues are damaged, tissue homeostasis must be re-established, and repair mechanisms have to rapidly provide harmonious mechanical tissue organization, a process essentially supported by (myo)fibroblasts. Under physiological conditions,...

The myofibroblast is a stromal cell of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that has been gaining considerable attention for its critical role in many GI functions. While several myofibroblast cell lines are commercially available to study these cells in vitro, research results from a cell line exposed to experimental cell culture conditions have inherent limitations due to the overly reductionist n...

Myofibroblast differentiation induced by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is characterized by the expression of smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) and extracellular matrix proteins. We and others have previously shown that these changes are regulated by protein kinase A (PKA). Adrenomedullin (ADM) is a vasodilator peptide that activates cAMP/PKA signaling through the calcitonin-receptor-like recep...

The well-known action of the gastric hormone gastrin in stimulating gastric acid secretion is mediated by activation of cholecystokinin-2 receptors (CCK2R). The latter are expressed by a variety of cell types suggesting that gastrin is implicated in multiple functions. During wound healing in the stomach CCK2R may be expressed by myofibroblasts. We have now characterized CCK2R expression in cul...