Preface to extracellular matrix and disease

Extracellular matrix and liver disease.

SIGNIFICANCE The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a dynamic microenvironment that undergoes continuous remodeling, particularly during injury and wound healing. Chronic liver injury of many different etiologies such as viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse, drug-induced liver injury, obesity and insulin resistance, metabolic disorders, and autoimmune disease is characterized by excessive deposition of EC...

The Extracellular Matrix, Matrix Metalloproteinases and their roles in Disease

Biomedical research is often thought to primarily focus upon the trillions of cells that make up the body. However just as study of the immune system cannot ignore the lymph in favor of blood, the extracellular matrix (ECM) cannot be ignored in favor of the cells. The ECM is a dynamic structure that acts as scaffolding substrate for cell adhesion, as well as a reservoir of various proteins, gro...

Editorial: Brain Extracellular Space: Geometry, Matrix and Physiological Importance

Extracellular matrix remodeling in hypertensive heart disease.

everal decades ago, the severity of heart failure was gauged ccording to a depression in myocardial contractility, dened as that biochemical property of cardiac muscle that etermines the extent of shortening independent of its nitial length and the load against which it shortens. athematical models were used to derive indices of conractility (1). These theoretical constructs included a conracti...

Extracellular matrix alterations in the Peyronie’s disease☆

Peyronie's disease is characterized by fibrous plaque formation of the tunica albuginea, causing penile deformity and fertility problems. The aim of the present study was to investigate alterations in the extracellular matrix in Peyronie's disease. The study used tissues collected by surgical procedure from individuals that presented a well-established disease, while control samples were obtain...