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This work was supported by a Dunhill Medical Trust grant (R454/1115) and a BBSRC grant (BB/P006108/1).

Analysis of institutional authors

Gavara, NúriaCorresponding Author

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November 5, 2024
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Article

Vimentin Plays a Crucial Role in Fibroblast Ageing by Regulating Biophysical Properties and Cell Migration

Publicated to:Cells. 8 (10): 1164- - 2019-10-01 8(10), DOI: 10.3390/cells8101164

Authors: Sliogeryte, Kristina; Gavara, Nuria

Affiliations

Queen Mary Univ London, Sch Engn & Mat Sci, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, England - Author

Abstract

Ageing is the result of changes in biochemical and biophysical processes at the cellular level that lead to progressive organ decline. Here we focus on the biophysical changes that impair cellular function of human dermal fibroblasts using donors of increasing age. We find that cell motility is impaired in cells from older donors, which is associated with increased Young's modulus, viscosity, and adhesion. Cellular morphology also displays parallel increases in spread area and cytoskeletal assembly, with a threefold increase in vimentin filaments alongside a decrease in its remodelling rate. Treatments with withaferin A or acrylamide show that cell motility can be modulated by regulating vimentin assembly. Crucially, decreasing vimentin amount in cells from older individuals to levels displayed by the neonatal donor rescues their motility. Our results suggest that increased vimentin assembly may underlay the aberrant biophysical properties progressively observed at the cellular level in the course of human ageing and propose vimentin as a potential therapeutic target for ageing-related diseases.

Keywords

AcrylamidAcrylamideActinAdultAgeAgingCell ageingCell mechanicsCell migrationCell movementCells, culturedContributeCytoskeletonDermisElastic modulusFemaleFibroblastsHumansIn-vitroInfant, newbornIntermediate-filamentsInvasionMiddle agedOrganizationSenescenceThin samplesTubulinVimentinViscosityWithaferin aYoung adult

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Cells due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position 70/195, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Cell Biology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.03. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 5.69 (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-04, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 40
  • Europe PMC: 22

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-04:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 103.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 107 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 4.1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: United Kingdom.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Gavara Casas, Núria).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Gavara Casas, Núria.