Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by lipotoxicity, inflammation and fibrosis, ultimately leading to end-stage liver disease. The molecular mechanisms promoting NASH are poorly understood and treatment options are limited. Here, we demonstrate that hepatic expression of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 8B (BMP8B), a member of the TGFβ/...
OBJECTIVE:Although glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, its function in liver fibrosis has rarely been studied. Here, we investigated the role of GDNF in hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and liver fibrosis in humans and mice. DESIGN:GDNF expression was examined in live...
Published in Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology
GAS6 signaling, through the TAM receptor tyrosine kinases AXL and MERTK, participates in chronic liver pathologies. Here, we addressed GAS6/TAM involvement in Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH) development. GAS6/TAM signaling was analyzed in cultured primary hepatocytes, hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and Kupffer cells (KCs). Axl-/-, Mertk-/- and w...
Published in Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio)
Defining the immune physiology of culture-adapted mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from distinct tissue compartments informs their potential utility as pharmaceuticals. Here, we have investigated the comparative immune plasticity of MSCs and hepatic stellate cells (HeSCs) isolated from human and murine bone marrow (BM) and liver, respective...
Published in International journal of medical sciences
The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is increasing worldwide. Several effective drugs for these diseases are now in development and under clinical trials. It is important to reveal the mechanism of the development of NAFLD and NASH. We investigated the role of arrestin domain-containin...
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive types of cancer and lacks effective therapeutic approaches. Most HCC develops in the setting of chronic liver injury, hepatic inflammation, and fibrosis. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key players in liver fibrogenesis and hepatocarcinogenesis, ...
Published in Medical Science Monitor : International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research
Background Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) is the largest class of small non-coding RNA, which has also been identified in somatic tissues, and aberrant expression of piRNAs in tumor tissues may be implicated in carcinogenesis. piR-823 is increased in liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is no report on the function of pi...
Tamoxifen has been used for many years to target estrogen receptor signalling in breast cancer cells. Tamoxifen is also an agonist of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), a GPCR ubiquitously expressed in tissues that mediates the acute response to estrogens. Here we report that tamoxifen promotes mechanical quiescence in hepatic stellate...
Published in The American journal of Chinese medicine
To investigate the therapeutic effect of glycyrrhizin arginine salt on rat cholestatic cirrhosis, we subjected male Sprague Dawley rats to common bile duct ligation for 14 days and treated them with distilled water (model group), arginine, or a low or high dose of glycyrrhizin arginine salt by gavage. A sham-operated group was used as a control gro...
