Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27535718›Full record

ArticleNature communications2016

Mechanosensing by the α6-integrin confers an invasive fibroblast phenotype and mediates lung fibrosis.

Huaping Chen, Jing Qu, Xiangwei Huang, Ashish Kurundkar, Lanyan Zhu, Naiheng Yang, Aida Venado, Qiang Ding, Gang Liu, Veena B Antony and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
97citing papers in PubMed
12.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

97 citing papers in PubMed, 157 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Transcriptomic profiling of collagen gene expression in lung fibroblasts from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Mechanobiology and Resolution of Lung Fibrosis.Annual review of physiology · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. The importance of mechanical forces in chronic respiratory diseases.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026
    Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Beyond classical collagen: basement membrane collagen IV in age-associated lung diseases.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Targeting Fibrosis: From Molecular Mechanisms to Advanced Therapies.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Integrins as Drug Targets in Vascular and Related Diseases.International journal of drug discovery and pharmacology · 2024
    Article

37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Huaping ChenDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Jing QuDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Xiangwei HuangDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Ashish KurundkarDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Lanyan ZhuThe Second Xiangya Hospital, Central-South University, Changsha 410011, China.
Naiheng YangDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Aida VenadoDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Qiang DingDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Gang LiuDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Veena B AntonyDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Victor J ThannickalDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
Yong ZhouDepartment of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 USA.
University of Alabama at Birmingham · USCentral South University · CN

Funding

Therapeutic Targeting of the Myofibroblast in Fibrotic Lung DiseaseP01HL114470 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI THANNICKAL, VICTOR J. · 2013 to 2022
$17.8M
The Role of FAK-related-non-kinase (FRNK) in Lung FibrosisR01HL085324 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI DING, QIANG · 2007 to 2016
$3.9M
Myofibroblast Senescence in Pulmonary FibrosisR01AG046210 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI THANNICKAL, VICTOR J. · 2014 to 2018
$1.6M
The Role of Biomechanical Signaling in Lung FibrosisR01HL124076 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI ZHOU, YONG · 2015 to 2018
$1.5M
The Role of ZFP36 in Control of IPFR01HL127338 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI DING, QIANG · 2016 to 2019
$1.5M
Sirtuins in Lung Aging and FibrosisI01BX003056 · VA · SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA VETERANS HEALTH CARE · PI THANNICKAL, VICTOR J. · 2016 to 2025
–
BLRD VA I01 BX003056NHLBI NIH HHS P01 HL114470NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL085324NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL124076NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL127338NIA NIH HHS R01 AG046210
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Matrix stiffening is a prominent feature of pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we demonstrate that matrix stiffness regulates the ability of fibrotic lung myofibroblasts to invade the basement membrane (BM). We identify α6-integrin as a mechanosensing integrin subunit that mediates matrix stiffness-regulated myofibroblast invasion. Increasing α6-expression, specifically the B isoform (α6B), couples β1-integrin to mediate MMP-2-dependent pericellular proteolysis of BM collagen IV, leading to myofibroblast invasion. Human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis lung myofibroblasts express high levels of α6-integrin in vitro and in vivo. Genetic ablation of α6 in collagen-expressing mesenchymal cells or pharmacological blockade of matrix stiffness-regulated α6-expression protects mice against bleomycin injury-induced experimental lung fibrosis. These findings suggest that α6-integrin is a matrix stiffness-regulated mechanosensitive molecule which confers an invasive fibroblast phenotype and mediates experimental lung fibrosis. Targeting this mechanosensing α6(β1)-integrin offers a novel anti-fibrotic strategy against lung fibrosis.

Indexed as

Mechanotransduction, CellularAnimalsBasement MembraneBleomycinCell AdhesionExtracellular MatrixFibroblastsGene DeletionHumansIntegrin alpha6LungMice, Inbred C57BLModels, BiologicalMyofibroblastsPhenotypeProto-Oncogene Proteins c-fosBleomycinIntegrin alpha6Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fosrho-Associated Kinases

Identifiers

PMID27535718
PMCPMC4992155
OpenAlexW2510079342

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.