Myofibroblasts in Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition and its Clinical Significance Singh Diksha1, Tegginamani Anand2, Singh Manish Kumar3, Samadi Fahad M.4, Sharma Parikshit5, Diwedi Akhilesh6 1Asst. Professor, Oral Pathology, FODS, KGMU, Lucknow, UP 2Professor, Oral Pathology, Hitkarni Dental College, Jabalpur, MP 3Asst. Professor, Community Medicine, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, UP 4Lecturer, Oral Pathology, FODS, KGMU, Lucknow, UP 5Senior Resident, Oral Pathology, FODS, KGMU, Lucknow, UP 6Senior Resident, Oral Pathology, FODS, BHU, Varanasi, UP Online published on 15 May, 2014. Abstract Myofibroblasts differentiate, invade and repair injured tissues by secreting and organizing the extracellular matrix and by developing contractile forces. Under physiological conditions, the secretory and contractile activities of myofibroblasts are terminated when the repair is complete (scar formation) but the functionality of the tissue is only rarely perfectly restored. At the end of the normal repair process, myofibroblasts disappear by apoptosis but in pathological situations, myofibroblasts likely remain leading to excessive scarring. These diverse cell types probably contribute to the appearance of myofibroblast subpopulations which show specific biological properties and which are important to understand in order to develop new therapeutic strategies for treatment of fibrotic and scarring diseases. Top Keywords Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), Microenvironment, Myofibroblasts, TNF fibroblasts, Growth factors. Top |