The fibrotic phenotype of systemic sclerosis fibroblasts varies with disease duration and severity of skin involvement: reconstitution of skin fibrosis development using a tissue engineering approach

We set out to examine the pathophysiological mechanisms of fibrosis in diffuse systemic sclerosis (SSc) using a tissue engineering approach. Skin fibroblasts were isolated from lesional skin of SSc patients with a disease duration of less than 1 year (early‐stage SSc) or more than 10 years (late‐stage SSc). Fibroblasts were also isolated from non‐lesional skin and compared with normal fibroblasts isolated from healthy adults. Cells were cultured...