UA researchers say a type of immune cell could hold key to preventing scar tissue buildup

Researchers at the University of Arizona say a previously unknown population of circulating immune cells play a critical role in fibrosis. That's the buildup of scar tissue that can lead to organ failure and disfigurement. The findings could lead to new strategies for addressing the condition.

Fibrosis contributes to nearly half of all deaths in developed countries, yet no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies exist to treat or prevent the condition, which can affect the heart, lungs and skin.

Kellen Chen is an associate professor of surgery in the UA College of Medicine - Tucson. He said a recent study that he co-authored uncovered this specific type of immune cell in blood.

“This makes sense because after an injury, the first thing that happens is that there’s bleeding and those immune cells come and those immune cells then recruit all the other cells to help you try and heal," Chen said. “That seems to circulate throughout the body and respond to injuries and we found that by targeting this cell we were able to reduce fibrosis.”

Basically, blocking signals from the immune cells during wound healing can reduce scar tissue formation. Chen said the findings will help them develop new strategies for preventing or treating the condition.

"One proposal we had is that potentially you could collect blood from a patient and then basically find these cells and turn them off maybe with some therapy outside of the human and then basically resupplant them with their own blood," Chen said. “We're also looking into if there could be some sort of inhibitor that would specifically target this cell type."