Extracellular Matrix and Liver Disease

Extracellular matrix and liver disease.

SIGNIFICANCE The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a dynamic microenvironment that undergoes continuous remodeling, particularly during injury and wound healing. Chronic liver injury of many different etiologies such as viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse, drug-induced liver injury, obesity and insulin resistance, metabolic disorders, and autoimmune disease is characterized by excessive deposition of EC...

Isolating Extracellular Matrix by Liver Decellularization

INTRODUCTION Liver Fibrosis is the 12th most leading cause of the death in the United States and 45% of all deaths in the developing world are caused by a fibrotic disease. [1] With the increase rate in fibrotic disease, there is an increased need for transplants which is exceeding the number of donors available. Fibrosis in the liver remains silent until it reaches the stage of liver failure, ...

The Extracellular Matrix, Matrix Metalloproteinases and their roles in Disease

Biomedical research is often thought to primarily focus upon the trillions of cells that make up the body. However just as study of the immune system cannot ignore the lymph in favor of blood, the extracellular matrix (ECM) cannot be ignored in favor of the cells. The ECM is a dynamic structure that acts as scaffolding substrate for cell adhesion, as well as a reservoir of various proteins, gro...

Liver extracellular vesicles in health and disease

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an important role in cell-to-cell communication. Although there are different kinds of vesicles, each with their own secretion and capture biology, all of them carry a cargo of proteins, lipids, metabolites and nucleic acids. They act as vehicles for exchange of biological materials and signals and are involved in the regulation of various physiological process...

Editorial: Brain Extracellular Space: Geometry, Matrix and Physiological Importance