Aortic Adventitial Fibroblasts (AoAF)

Adventitia is the outermost connective tissue covering of an organ, vessel, or other structure. Adventitial fibroblasts produce collagen to provide structural support by anchoring the blood vessel to nearby tissues. There is also increasing evidence that adventitial fibroblasts are actively involved in vascular remodeling.   

Human Aortic adventitial fibroblasts (AoAF) constitutively secreted numerous proinflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-6 and MCP-1, whose gene expressions were further upregulated in response to Ang II stimulation. Findings suggest that Ang II-stimulates AoAF to recruit monocytes via fibroblast-derived MCP-1, and the recruited monocytes further activate fibroblast proliferation, adventitial thickening, and additional cytokine production. This fibroblast-monocyte amplification loop may critically mediate hallmarks of adventitial inflammation common to many cardiovascular diseases.