Serum amyloid P inhibits dermal wound healing.

The repair of open wounds depends on granulation tissue formation and contraction, which is primarily mediated by myofibroblasts. A subset of myofibroblasts originates from bone-marrow-derived monocytes which differentiate into fibroblast-like cells called fibrocytes. Serum amyloid P (SAP) inhibits differentiation of monocytes into fibrocytes.

Reduction of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by serum amyloid P.

Fibrotic diseases such as scleroderma, severe chronic asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and cardiac fibrosis kill tens of thousands of people each year in the U.S. alone.

Bone marrow-derived fibroblast precursors mediate ischemic cardiomyopathy in mice.

We previously described a mouse model of fibrotic ischemia/reperfusion cardiomyopathy (I/RC) arising from daily, brief coronary occlusion. One characteristic of I/RC was the prolonged elevation of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), which was obligate to its phenotype and may contribute to the uptake of bloodborne cells. Here we describe in I/RC hearts a population of small spindle-shaped fibroblasts that were highly proliferative and expressed collagen I and alpha-smooth muscle actin (myofibroblast markers), CD34 (a precursor marker), and CD45 (a hematopoietic marker).