ABSTRACT
Following acute or chronic liver tissue damage, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) undergo
a process of activation toward a phenotype characterized by increased proliferation,
motility, contractility, and synthesis of extracellular matrix components. Activation
of HSCs is regulated by several soluble factors, including growth factors, cytokines,
chemokines, and products of oxidative stress, as well as by extensive changes in the
composition and organization of the ECM. Different groups of soluble factors may be
classified according to their prevalent biological effect: (a) factors promoting HSC
proliferation and/or migration (i.e., platelet-derived growth factor, basic fibroblast
growth factor, insulin-like growth factor-1); (b) factors promoting fibrillar ECM
accumulation, particularly transforming growth factor-β1; (c) factors with a prevalent
contractile effect on HSCs, such as endothelin-1, thrombin, angiotensin-II and vasopressin,
although all these agents also may promote HSC proliferation; (d) proinflammatory
cytokines and chemokines; and (e) cytokines with a prominent antiinflammatory/antifibrogenic
activity, such as interleukin-10 and interferon-γ. Additional important issues are
represented by the relationship between cytokine and integrin signaling, and by the
effects of oxidative stress-related molecules on cytokine signaling. In the past decade
the major intracellular signaling pathways elicited by these factors in HSCs have
been greatly elucidated.
KEYWORD
Hepatic stellate cells - cytokine receptors - cytokine signaling - liver tissue damage