Beyond Structural Support: Skin Fibroblasts as Dynamic Regulators of Tissue and Disease

Skin fibroblasts are central organizers of tissue architecture, providing the structural framework of the skin while actively regulating its development, homeostasis, and repair. Far from being a uniform cell population, fibroblasts comprise diverse subtypes with distinct spatial identities, functional programs, and interactions with epithelial, immune, and vascular cells. In this talk, I will discuss how fibroblast diversity shapes skin structure and physiology, and how altered fibroblast states drive pathological processes such as fibrosis and cancer. These findings position fibroblasts as dynamic regulators of tissue function in both health and disease.