Vascular Remodelling and Mesenchymal Transition in Systemic Sclerosis

Figure 2

Pathways involved in the EndoMT. The scheme summarized the putative pathways involved in the EndoMT highlighting which are already correlated or not with SSc. The activation of specific nuclear mediator leads to activation of target genes that are correlated with the increase of mesenchymal markers (such as Col I, α-SMA, and Twist 1) and/or decrease of endothelial markers (such as CD31, VE-Cad, and Fli-1). The activation of these pathways could lead endothelial cells to acquire initially mesenchymal characteristics and later on to acquire myofibroblastic features.