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Fig. 1 | Cell & Bioscience

Fig. 1

From: New insights into fibrosis from the ECM degradation perspective: the macrophage-MMP-ECM interaction

Fig. 1

Macrophage-MMP-ECM interaction in fibrosis. Fibrolytic macrophages can degrade the ECM by secreting MMPs and phagocytizing ECM components in fibrotic sites. Regulated at the transcriptional and secretory levels, MMPs are released by fibrolytic macrophages to hydrolyze ECM components. Matricryptins, hydrolysis products of ECM degradation, are ingested by fibrolytic macrophages through the lysosomal pathway. Both MMPs and matricryptins can regulate the function of fibrolytic macrophages, enhancing their ability to resolve fibrosis. In addition, matricryptins exert a chemotactic effect on monocytes in peripheral blood, which may induce the transformation into fibrolytic macrophages due to inducing stimuli in the microenvironment

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