Fig 1: Local fibroblasts proliferate polyclonally to form adhesions.a Parabiosis schematic. b H&E and IF data showing the presence of an abscess identified along the abdominal wall adjacent to the adhesion interface in a mouse parabiont, which is strongly GFP+ (green fluorescent protein) secondary to the presence of circulating immune cells in the abscess. c No GFP+ cells were identified in the adhesion interface. Green (GFP) represents circulating cells, purple (CD45) stains for immune cells. n = 3 biological replicates. Scale bars, 50 µm. d Schematic of the ActinCreER::ROSA26VT2/GK3 Rainbow mouse construct. e Schematic showing ActinCreER::ROSA26VT2/GK3 Rainbow mice locally induced with activated tamoxifen liposomes (LiTMX) at time of adhesion formation, using a published protocol21, ERT2 estrogen receptor T2. f ActinCreER::ROSA26VT2/GK3 Rainbow mouse uninjured control (top panel) and adhesion tissue harvested at POD 14 (bottom panel). Clonal proliferation of fibroblasts are visualized along the adhesion interface. Representative samples, structures as labelled in figures, white dotted lines outline adhesion, white asterisk marks adhesion interface, confocal imaging. n = 5 biological replicates. Scale bars, 25 µm. g Schematic of the PDGFRACreER::ROSA26VT2/GK3 Rainbow mouse construct. h Confocal imaging of representative PDGFRACreER::ROSA26VT2/GK3 Rainbow mouse adhesion samples showing cellular clonality in the adhesion interface at postoperative day (POD) 7 (top panels, Imaris rendering at right), and POD 14 (bottom panels, Imaris rendering at right). Structures as labelled in figures, thick white dotted lines outline adhesion interface, thin white dotted lines outline individual clones, confocal imaging. n = 5 biological replicates. Scale bars, 50 µm.