Genomics of Human Fibrotic Diseases: Disordered Wound Healing Response

Abstract

Fibrotic disease, which is implicated in almost half of all deaths worldwide, is the result of an uncontrolled wound healing response to injury in which tissue is replaced by deposition of excess extracellular matrix, leading to fibrosis and loss of organ function. A plethora of genome-wide association studies, microarrays, exome sequencing studies, DNA methylation arrays, next-generation sequencing, and profiling of noncoding RNAs have been performed in patient-derived fibrotic tissue, with the shared goal of utilizing genomics to identify the transcriptional networks and biological pathways underlying the development of fibrotic diseases. In this review, we discuss fibrosing disorders of the skin, liver, kidney, lung, and heart, systematically (1) characterizing the initial acute injury that drives unresolved inflammation, (2) identifying genomic studies that have defined the pathologic gene changes leading to excess matrix deposition and fibrogenesis, and (3) summarizing therapies targeting pro-fibrotic genes and networks identified in the genomic studies. Ultimately, successful bench-to-bedside translation of observations from genomic studies will result in the development of novel anti-fibrotic therapeutics that improve functional quality of life for patients and decrease mortality from fibrotic diseases.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease; cirrhosis; fibrosis; genome-wide association study; genomics; keloid; pulmonary fibrosis; scleroderma; transcriptome; wound healing.

Figure 1

GWAS of fibrosing disorders. Pooled network of genes from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of fibrotic diseases in skin, liver, lung, kidney, and heart, and their associated biological processes. Figure created using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) Summer Release (June 2020).