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Publications

Journal Article Ppublish

PubMed: 42183153 DOI: 10.1016/j.celbio.2025.100315

Mapping cellular and ECM heterogeneity in pulmonary fibrosis - insights from recent spatiomics studies.

Cell Biomater 2(4)

Authors: Mahsa Yazdani, Li Wang, Qiyue Ding, Negin Frazad, Mingyu Yang, Shriramprasad Venkatesan, Michal Stachowiak, Laertis Ikonomou, Ya-Wen Chen, Rong Fan, Yang Liu, Ruogang Zhao

Affiliations

  • Department of Biomedical Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA 14260.
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06520.
  • Versiti Blood Research Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226.
  • Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA 14260.
  • Department of Otolaryngology, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Airway Sciences, Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029.
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 06520. Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA 06520.
  • Lead contact.

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) features spatially heterogeneous tissue remodeling, with fibroblast foci (FF) acting as central hubs of fibrogenesis at the interface between remodeled and preserved alveolar regions. Emerging spatiomics studies reveal that FF comprise distinct functional zones-an activated fibroblast core, a transitional front, and surrounding mature fibrosis-each defined by unique cellular and molecular programs. Spatially resolved profiling has uncovered diverse fibroblast subpopulations, epithelial injury states, macrophage niches, and cell-matrix signaling circuits that together shape the fibrotic niche. By linking gene and protein expression to tissue architecture, spatiomics clarifies how fibroblast activation, epithelial remodeling, and ECM reorganization integrate across space to drive irreversible scarring. This Perspective summarizes spatiomics approaches in pulmonary fibrosis, synthesizes the key biological insights they have revealed, and highlights emerging opportunities-spanning integrative multiomics, AI-guided inference, and organoid models-to advance mechanistic understanding and therapeutic discovery in IPF.

MeSH

Cells, Genes, Fibrosis, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Fibroblasts, Tissues