Hepatic stellate cell single cell atlas reveals a highly similar activation process across liver disease aetiologies.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

The progression of chronic liver disease (CLD) is characterized by excessive extracellular matrix deposition, disrupting hepatic architecture and function. Upon liver injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) differentiate towards myofibroblasts and become inflammatory, proliferative and fibrogenic. To date, it is still unclear whether HSC activation is driven by similar mechanisms in different aetiologies.

Methods

HSCs from multiple publicly available single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets were annotated and merged into a single-cell HSC activation atlas. Spheroid co-cultures of primary mouse hepatocytes/HSCs (n = 5) and ELISAs on patient plasma samples (n = 80) were performed to validate the mechanistic insight obtained from the HSC atlas.

Results

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SUBMITTER: Merens V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11699746 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature