Meflin confers antifibrotic properties to intestinal fibroblasts in inflammatory bowel disease - PubMed
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- #Crohn's disease
- #Meflin-positive fibroblasts
- #intestinal fibrosis
- Meflin expression increases in fibroblasts during early fibrosis but decreases in established fibrosis in Crohn's disease patients and mouse models.
- Meflin-deficient mice show worsened intestinal fibrosis, linked to dysregulation of the non-canonical Wnt pathway (WNT5A and ROR2).
- Pharmacologically boosting Meflin expression with a synthetic retinoid reversed fibrosis in a mouse model and reduced pro-fibrotic proteins in patient-derived fibroblasts.
- Meflin-positive fibroblasts are identified as a functional subset that suppresses intestinal fibrosis, offering a potential therapeutic target for Crohn's disease.