Fibroblasts

There are fibroblast cells that produce tropocollagen and form fibers. Hence their name: fibros – fiber, blastos – precursor. Fibroblasts are large, flat, spindle-shaped cells with indistinct boundaries and few processes. The cytoplasm of young fibroblasts is abundant, basophilic, clearly divided into endoplasm and ectoplasm. The nucleus is oval, light, with fine chromatin. It contains 2-3 distinct nucleoli. The cell has distinct organelles involved in protein synthesis. Especially abundant in ribosomes. Mitochondria and expanded Golgi complex are located closer to the nucleus. The cytoplasm contains numerous tropic inclusions, vacuoles filled with fibrillar structures. Fibroblasts are the main producers of extracellular matrix. They synthesize and secrete procollagen, proelastin, glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, and proteins that are part of elastic fibers. Unlike secretory cells, which have a polarized secretion process, fibroblasts secrete their secretion all over their surface. Fibroblasts are stationary cells. When stimulated, they can move slowly, for example, towards the site of inflammation. Fibroblasts are involved in wound healing, scar formation, and can isolate foreign bodies by producing capsules around them. In the adult body, new fibroblasts are formed from young, mitotically dividing fibroblasts, as well as from pericytes. After producing a certain amount of extracellular matrix, fibroblasts stop dividing and, completing their developmental cycle, become fibrocytes.

Source | Glossary of Most Commonly Used Biomedical Terms and Concepts | Lithuanian University of Health Sciences | Academician Professor Antanas Praškevičius, Professor Laima Ivanovienė