Liver Cirrhosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Liver Cirrhosis, including details on alcohol, treatment, drugs, effects, causes.

Liver fibrosis: searching for cell model answers.

Gutiérrez-Ruiz MC, Gómez-Quiroz LE

Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, División de Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, México, DF, México. mcgr@xanum.uam.mx

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the principal fibrogenic cell type in the liver. Progress in understanding the cellular and molecular basis for the development and progression of liver fibrosis could be possible by the development of methods to isolate HSC from rodents and human liver. Growth of stellate cells on plastic led to a phenotypic response known as activation, which paralleled closely the response of these cells to injury in vivo. Actually, much of the current knowledge of stellate cell behaviour has been gained through primary culture studies, particularly from rats. Also, different laboratories that have established hepatic stellate cell lines from rats and humans have provided a stable and unlimited source of cells that express specific functions, making them suitable for culture-based studies of hepatic fibrosis. From these in vitro models grew a large body of information characterizing stellate cell activation, cytokine signalling, intracellular pathways regulating liver fibrogenesis, production of extracellular matrix proteins and development of antifibrotic drugs.

Published 3 April 2007 in Liver Int, 27(4): 434-9.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Liver Cirrhosis Research Today. All Rights Reserved.