Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis

Biomaterial implants are a critical aspect of our medical therapies and biomedical research and come in various forms: stents, implantable glucose sensors, orthopedic implants, silicone implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineered scaffolds. Their implantation triggers a series of biologic...

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Main Authors: Mathew Kibet, Daniel Abebayehu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Matrix Biology Plus
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590028525000055
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author Mathew Kibet
Daniel Abebayehu
author_facet Mathew Kibet
Daniel Abebayehu
author_sort Mathew Kibet
collection DOAJ
description Biomaterial implants are a critical aspect of our medical therapies and biomedical research and come in various forms: stents, implantable glucose sensors, orthopedic implants, silicone implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineered scaffolds. Their implantation triggers a series of biological responses that often times lead to the foreign body response and subsequent fibrotic encapsulation, a dense ECM-rich capsule that isolates the biomaterial and renders it ineffective. These responses lead to the failure of biomaterials and is a major hurdle to overcome and in promoting their success. Much attention has been given to macrophage populations for the inflammatory component of these responses to biomaterials but recent work has identified an important role of T cells and their ability to modulate fibroblast activity and vice versa. In this review, we focus on T cell-fibroblast crosstalk by exploring T cell subsets, critical signaling pathways, and fibroblast populations that have been shown to dictate biomaterial-mediated fibrosis. We then highlight emerging technologies and model systems that enable new insights and avenues to T cell-fibroblast crosstalk that will improve biomaterial outcomes.
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spelling doaj-art-259105fb4090439abca36b4e71596f1b2025-08-20T02:34:40ZengElsevierMatrix Biology Plus2590-02852025-06-012610017210.1016/j.mbplus.2025.100172Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosisMathew Kibet0Daniel Abebayehu1Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United StatesCorresponding author.; Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United StatesBiomaterial implants are a critical aspect of our medical therapies and biomedical research and come in various forms: stents, implantable glucose sensors, orthopedic implants, silicone implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineered scaffolds. Their implantation triggers a series of biological responses that often times lead to the foreign body response and subsequent fibrotic encapsulation, a dense ECM-rich capsule that isolates the biomaterial and renders it ineffective. These responses lead to the failure of biomaterials and is a major hurdle to overcome and in promoting their success. Much attention has been given to macrophage populations for the inflammatory component of these responses to biomaterials but recent work has identified an important role of T cells and their ability to modulate fibroblast activity and vice versa. In this review, we focus on T cell-fibroblast crosstalk by exploring T cell subsets, critical signaling pathways, and fibroblast populations that have been shown to dictate biomaterial-mediated fibrosis. We then highlight emerging technologies and model systems that enable new insights and avenues to T cell-fibroblast crosstalk that will improve biomaterial outcomes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590028525000055
spellingShingle Mathew Kibet
Daniel Abebayehu
Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis
Matrix Biology Plus
title Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis
title_full Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis
title_fullStr Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis
title_full_unstemmed Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis
title_short Crosstalk between T cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial-mediated fibrosis
title_sort crosstalk between t cells and fibroblasts in biomaterial mediated fibrosis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590028525000055
work_keys_str_mv AT mathewkibet crosstalkbetweentcellsandfibroblastsinbiomaterialmediatedfibrosis
AT danielabebayehu crosstalkbetweentcellsandfibroblastsinbiomaterialmediatedfibrosis