Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40311758›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of pathology2025

Effect of Fibroblast Signaling on Macrophage Polarization.

Samuel T LoPresti, Mangesh M Kulkarni, Dana R Julian, Zariel I Johnson, Brandon L Lantonio, Nahed Ismail, Cecelia C Yates, Bryan N Brown

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of pathology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Macrophage-Fibroblast Crosstalk Shapes Wound Repair Signaling In Vitro.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
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

8 authors.

Samuel T LoPrestiDepartment of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Mangesh M KulkarniDepartment of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Dana R JulianDepartment of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Zariel I JohnsonDepartment of Health Promotion and Development, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Brandon L LantonioDepartment of Health Promotion and Development, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Nahed IsmailDepartment of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Cecelia C YatesMcGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Health Promotion and Development, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: cey4@pitt.edu.
Bryan N BrownDepartment of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: brownb@upmc.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Systemic and organ-specific fibrotic disorders are a leading cause of death worldwide. Crosstalk between fibroblasts and macrophages has been suggested as a key event leading to either resolution or aberrant remodeling and fibrosis. This study sought to identify the impacts of the timing and effects of exposure to quiescent (basal) and transforming growth factor-β-stimulated (activated) fibroblast-secreted products on macrophage polarization and function. Naïve (M0 macrophages), lipopolysaccharide/interferon-γ-stimulated (M1 macrophages), and IL-4-stimulated (M2 macrophages) macrophages were exposed to basal or activated fibroblast conditioned media (FBCM) for 24 hours before, after, or during macrophage polarization. Macrophage function and polarization were quantified by phagocytosis, nitric oxide, and arginase activity assays and by cytokine array. FBCM from activated fibroblasts led to a pronounced up-regulation of arginase-1 compared with that from quiescent fibroblasts in M0 macrophages. Moreover, treatment with FBCM from activated fibroblasts resulted in significant increases in arginase-1 immunoexpression as well as urea production in M2 macrophages when applied antecedent, concurrent, or subsequent to M2 macrophage polarizing cytokines. Activated FBCM enhanced several proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and IL-6, in all macrophage subsets while only increasing tumor necrosis factor-α in M1 macrophages. This study elucidates multiple proinflammatory and profibrotic effects of fibroblasts on M1 and M2 macrophages, providing insights into the complex orchestration of macrophage-fibroblast crosstalk in fibrosis and the critical role of fibroblasts in the inflammatory response to injury.

Indexed as

Cell PolarityFibroblastsMacrophage ActivationMacrophagesSignal TransductionAnimalsArginaseCulture Media, ConditionedCytokinesHumansMiceNitric OxidePhagocytosisArginaseCulture Media, ConditionedCytokinesNitric Oxide

Identifiers

PMID40311758
PMCPMC12264546

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.