Targeting the jagged/notch pathway: a new treatment for fibrosis?

There is no treatment for fibrotic disease. TGF beta is known to promote fibrogenesis in vivo and in vitro, however, development of anti-fibrotic strategies targeting the TGF beta axis is problematic owing to the pleitropic nature of TGF beta action. Two recent papers (Kavian et al. 2010; Nyhan et al. 2010) suggest that the jagged/Notch pathway may selectively mediate fibrogenic properties of TGF beta and thus may represent a novel therapeutic approach to fibrosis for scleroderma and kidney fibrosis; these papers are the subject of this commentary.