GEO series

Defining the role of fibroblasts in skin expansion

GSE324558 Homo sapiens; Mus musculus Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing 12 samples Submitted 2026/05/15 Platform GPL34281Platform GPL34328

Summary

Stretch-mediated tissue expansion is commonly used to grow extra skin for reconstructive surgeries. To ensure harmonious growth, the two main skin compartments, the epidermis and the dermis, must both expand in a coordinated manner. Although the epidermal response has been previously described, it remains unclear how fibroblasts, the main supporting cell type, respond to stretching in vivo. Here we map the transcriptional response of the entire skin during stretch-mediated tissue expansion, and we describe the fibroblast response to stretching in vivo. We show an increase in fibroblast volume accompanied by changes in organisation. We demonstrate that stretching forces fibroblasts to exit their quiescent state and restart proliferation. Concurrently, fibroblasts reduce collagen production and upregulate extracellular matrix remodelling factors, adopting a more embryonic-like program. Because embryonic fibroblasts are widely used as feeder layers to support the expansion of epidermal stem cells for clinical application, we leveraged this model to show that a low collagen state enhances epidermal stem cell self-renewal, thereby coordinating epidermal and dermal responses during skin expansion. These findings provide valuable insights to guide the design of in vivo stretch-mediated tissue expansion protocols and the production of in vitro skin grafts for clinical application.

Published in

A stretch-responsive fibroblast program promotes epidermal stem cell self-renewal during skin expansion

Aguilera Stewart C, Alar C, Gozza GA et al. · Nature communications 2026 · PMID 42285958 · doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73979-0

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Direct links to NCBI, no account and no request form: the whole study as GSE324558_RAW.tar, processed values as the series matrix, the supplementary file directory, and per-sample supplementary files for any of the 12 samples. Raw sequencing reads are also available from ENA.

Whole study · RAW.tar ↓ Series matrix ↓ All supplementary files ↗ Raw reads on ENA ↗

Also filed as BioProject PRJNA1435788 and SRA study SRP682849. Searching any of these in the dataset finder brings you back here.

NCBI GEO page ↗ Paper (PMID 42285958) ↗

Study design

4 × LQ vs 4 × SQ vs 2 × ker on SQ# vs 2 × ker on LQ#

Supports a between-group comparison across 12 samples.

4 replicated groups read from 12 sample titles; they account for 12 of them. Check it against the sample list below before relying on it.

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