CCN2/CTGF promotes liver fibrosis through crosstalk with the Slit2/Robo signaling.

ABSTRACT: Liver fibrosis is the common outcome of many chronic liver diseases, resulting from altered cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions that promote hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and excessive matrix production. This study aimed to investigate functions of cellular communication network factor 2 (CCN2)/Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), an extracellular signaling modulator of the CYR61/CTGF/Nov (CCN) family, in liver fibrosis. Tamoxifen-inducible conditional knockouts in mice and hepatocyte-specific deletion of this gene in rats were generated using the Cre-lox system. These animals were subjected to peri-central hepatocyte damage caused by carbon tetrachloride. Potential crosstalk of this molecule with a new profibrotic pathway mediated by the Slit2 ligand and Roundabout (Robo) r

SUBMITTER: Pi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10030765 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature