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REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1551911

A Review of Recent Studies on the Pathogenesis of Systemic Sclerosis: Focus on Fibrosis Pathways

Provisionally accepted
Sergio A Jimenez Sergio A Jimenez *Fabian A Mendoza Fabian A Mendoza Sonsoles Piera-Velazquez Sonsoles Piera-Velazquez
  • Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by a severe fibrotic process affecting the skin and multiple internal organs associated with a generalized obstructive vasculopathy of small arteries and arterioles.• Despite extensive genetic, biochemical, and molecular studies, the exact pathogenetic mechanisms of SSc have not been fully elucidated, although several affected molecular pathways have been identified.• The discovery of these molecular pathway alterations has led to a marked improvement in the understanding of SSc pathogenesis.• Although there is no curative therapy for the disease, and it may progress, causing severe disabilities and high mortality, the recent identification of novel molecular therapeutic targets should be of value to optimize the treatment and reduce the mortality caused by the disease.

    Keywords: systemic sclerosis, Pathogenesis, myofibroblast, endothelial cell, miRNA - microRNA, LncRNA - long noncoding RNA, Fibrosis, TGF

    Received: 26 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Jimenez, Mendoza and Piera-Velazquez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sergio A Jimenez, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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