Background Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) have recently been identified as liver-resident mesenchymal stem cells and are thought to contribute to liver repair and fibrogenesis [1]. Quiescent HSC are located in the space of Disse and store vitamin A in characteristic lipid droplets. During their activation HSC lose their vitamin A stores and adopt a myofibroblast-like phenotype. This activation of...

Background Liver fibrosis and cirrhosis are late complications common to liver diseases of different etiology such as viral hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease. Irrespective of the initial cause of liver disease, activation of hepatic stellate cells is a crucial step in the fibrotic pathomechanism. Activated hepatic stellate cells produce excess collagen as well as profibrotic cytokines and c...

The activation and transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) into contractile, matrix-producing myofibroblasts (MFBs) are central events in hepatic fibrogenesis. These processes are driven by autocrine- and paracrine-acting soluble factors (i.e., cytokines and chemokines). Proof-of-concept studies of the last decades have shown that both the deactivation and removal of hepatic MFBs ...

We examined the liver of adult polar bears, arctic foxes, and rats by gold chloride staining, fluorescence microscopy for the detection of autofluorescence of vitamin A, hematoxylin-eosin staining, staining with Masson's trichrome, Ishii and Ishii's silver impregnation, and transmission electron microscopical morphometry. The liver lobules of the arctic animals showed a zonal gradient in the st...

a w C t a g o l ubstantial improvements in the treatment of hronic liver disease have accelerated interest in unovering the mechanisms underlying hepatic fibrosis nd its resolution. Activation of resident hepatic stelate cells into proliferative, contractile, and fibrogenic ells in liver injury remains a dominant theme driving he field. However, several new areas of rapid rogress in the past 5–...

BACKGROUND & AIMS The gut microbiota significantly influences hepatic immunity. Little is known on the precise mechanism by which liver cells mediate recognition of gut microbes at steady state. Here we tested the hypothesis that a specific liver cell population was the sensor and we aimed at deciphering the mechanism by which the activation of TLR4 pathway would mediate liver response to gut m...

Liver fibrosis may lead to portal hypertension, liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma, and predominantly results from the proliferation and activation of hepatic stellate cells. OSU‑03012, a non‑cyclooxygenase‑inhibiting celecoxib derivative, has been previously demonstrated to promote apoptosis in certain cell types, however, its function in hepatic fibrosis remains unclear. In the current...

Hepatic stellate cells are embedded in the loose connective tissue matrix within the space of Disse. This extracellular matrix contains several basement membrane components including laminin, but its composition changes during liver injury because of the production of extracellular matrix components found in scar tissue. These changes in extracellular matrix composition and in cell-extracellula...