Tracking matricellular protein SPARC in extracellular vesicles as a non-destructive method to evaluate lipid-based antifibrotic treatments.

ABSTRACT: Uncovering the complex cellular mechanisms underlying hepatic fibrogenesis could expedite the development of effective treatments and noninvasive diagnosis for liver fibrosis. The biochemical complexity of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their role in intercellular communication make them an attractive tool to look for biomarkers as potential alternative to liver biopsies. We developed a solid set of methods to isolate and characterize EVs from differently treated human hepatic stellate cell (HSC) line LX-2, and we investigated their biological effect onto naïve LX-2, proving that EVs do play an active role in fibrogenesis. We mined our proteomic data for EV-associated proteins whose expression correlated with HSC treatment, choosing the matricellular protein SPARC as proof-of-concept for

SUBMITTER: Zivko C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9618575 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature