Ha-Ras stabilization mediates pro-fibrotic signals in dermal fibroblasts

摘要

BackgroundScleroderma (systemic sclerosis; SSc) is a clinically heterogeneous and often lethal acquired disorder of the connective tissue that is characterized by vascular, immune/inflammatory and fibrotic manifestations. Tissue fibrosis is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in SSc and an unmet medical challenge, mostly because of our limited understanding of the molecular factors and signalling events that trigger and sustain disease progression. Recent evidence has correlated skin fibrosis in SSc with stabilization of proto-oncogene Ha-Ras secondary to auto-antibody stimulation of reactive oxygen species production. The goal of the present study was to explore the molecular connection between Ha-Ras stabilization and collagen I production, the main read-out of fibrogenesis, in a primary dermal fibroblast culture system that replicates the early stages of disease progression in SSc.