Fibroblast inflammatory priming determines regenerative versus fibrotic skin repair in reindeer

Sarthak Sinha, Holly D. Sparks, Elodie Labit, Hayley N. Robbins, Kevin Gowing, Arzina Jaffer, Eren Kutluberk, Rohit Arora, Micha Sam Brickman Raredon, Leslie Cao, Scott Swanson, Peng Jiang, Olivia Hee, Hannah Pope, Matt Workentine, Kiran Todkar, Nilesh Sharma, Shyla Bharadia, Keerthana Chockalingam, Luiz G.N. de AlmeidaMike Adam, Laura Niklason, S. Steven Potter, Ashley W. Seifert, Antoine Dufour, Vincent Gabriel, Nicole L. Rosin, Ron Stewart, Greg Muench, Robert McCorkell, John Matyas, Jeff Biernaskie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Scopus citations

Abstract

Adult mammalian skin wounds heal by forming fibrotic scars. We report that full-thickness injuries of reindeer antler skin (velvet) regenerate, whereas back skin forms fibrotic scar. Single-cell multi-omics reveal that uninjured velvet fibroblasts resemble human fetal fibroblasts, whereas back skin fibroblasts express inflammatory mediators mimicking pro-fibrotic adult human and rodent fibroblasts. Consequently, injury elicits site-specific immune responses: back skin fibroblasts amplify myeloid infiltration and maturation during repair, whereas velvet fibroblasts adopt an immunosuppressive phenotype that restricts leukocyte recruitment and hastens immune resolution. Ectopic transplantation of velvet to scar-forming back skin is initially regenerative, but progressively transitions to a fibrotic phenotype akin to the scarless fetal-to-scar-forming transition reported in humans. Skin regeneration is diminished by intensifying, or enhanced by neutralizing, these pathologic fibroblast-immune interactions. Reindeer represent a powerful comparative model for interrogating divergent wound healing outcomes, and our results nominate decoupling of fibroblast-immune interactions as a promising approach to mitigate scar.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4717-4736.e25
JournalCell
Volume185
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 8 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Keywords

  • fetal human fibroblast
  • fibroblast
  • immune modulation
  • inflammation
  • inflammatory priming
  • myeloid cell maturation
  • reindeer
  • scar
  • skin regeneration
  • stromal-immune crosstalk
  • wound healing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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