Liver: hepatic stellate cells hold the key to liver fibrosis.
Liver: hepatic stellate cells hold the key to liver fibrosis.
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DOI：
10.1038/nrgastro.2013.244
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发表时间：
2014-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Ray, Katrina
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ray, Katrina
发表在《自然通讯》杂志上的新研究证实，无论潜在疾病如何，肝星状细胞（HSC）都是体内肝纤维化的关键促成因素。这些细胞在毒性、胆汁淤积性和脂肪肝疾病的小鼠模型中产生了存在于肝脏中的大多数肌成纤维细胞。这些发现强调了HSC作为开发新型抗纤维化疗法的主要靶点，这是由于缺乏可用的肝纤维化疗法而向前迈出的重要一步。“过去30年的文献数据表明HSC是[肝纤维化]的重要贡献者，然而，所有这些研究都依赖于培养或分离的HSC实验，它们在促进损伤肝脏纤维化中的作用从未直接显示过，”作者Robert施瓦贝解释说。此外，潜在的肝脏疾病被认为决定了哪种细胞类型有助于肌成纤维细胞的发育。因此，研究人员开发了一种新的转基因小鼠模型（LratCre小鼠在HSC上共表达荧光标记物），以在各种环境中跟踪肝纤维化期间HSC的命运。
New research published in Nature Communications has confirmed hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) as key contributors towards liver fibrosis in vivo irrespective of the underlying disease. These cells gave rise to the majority of myofibroblasts present in the liver in mouse models of toxic, cholestatic and fatty liver disease. The findings highlight HSCs as a primary target for the development of novel antifibrotic therapies, an important step forward given the lack of available therapies for liver fibrosis.“Data from the literature from the past 30 years has suggested HSCs to be important contributors [in liver fibrosis], however, all these studies have relied on experiments in cultured or isolated HSCs, and their role in promoting fibrosis in injured livers has never been directly shown,” explains author Robert Schwabe. Moreover, the underlying liver disease was thought to determine which cell type contributed to myofibroblast development. As such, the researchers developed a new transgenic mouse model (LratCre mice co-expressing a fluorescent marker on HSCs) to track the fate of HSCs during liver fibrosis in a variety of settings.