Hepatic stellate cells: the only cells involved in liver fibrogenesis? A dogma challenged

A Desmoulière - Gastroenterology, 2007 - gastrojournal.org
The accumulation of extracellular matrix observed in fibrosis and cirrhosis is due to the
activation of fibroblasts, which acquire a myofibroblastic phenotype. Myofibroblasts, which
are absent from normal liver, are produced by the activation of precursor cells such as
hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Many papers have emphasized that the activation of HSCs is a
crucial event promoting extracellular matrix deposition and hepatic fibrosis (for review, see
Reeves and Friedman 1 and Lotersztajn et al 2). HSCs have a perisinusoidal distribution in …