Overview

• - Researchers integrated single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and machine learning to classify eight fibroblast types in human skin.
• - Spatial mapping defined distinct tissue neighborhoods and identified five fibroblast populations in healthy skin with location-linked functions.
• - Cross-organ comparisons in tissues including gut, lung and endometrium revealed three disease-associated fibroblast subtypes recurring across multiple conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lung cancer.
• - An activated, wound-like fibroblast state that recruits immune cells was observed in inflammatory diseases including acne and inflammatory bowel disease.
• - The peer-reviewed study was published in Nature Immunology and the authors made the data and an online fibroblast-mapping resource publicly available, proposing these cells as potential cross-disease drug targets pending further validation.