Liver disease is a major worldwide health issue, which has personally affected both friends and family in my own life. It has been estimated more than 50 million people in the world are affected by chronic liver disease. 4.5% to 9.5% of the general population globally suffer from cirrhosis1,2,3.
This blog post discusses human hepatic stellate cells, which are intrinsically involved in liver damage, and I highlight a key citation that may help study liver damage using cryopreserved human cells rather than animal liver models.
What are Stellates?
Hepatic stellate cells are non-parenchymal cells in the liver that store retinoids. These cells are in a quiescent state in a normal healthy liver.
Upon activation due to liver damage, these cells become fibroblast-like and produce extracellular collagen matrix.
Why Should You Care?
Hepatic stellate cells are involved in liver fibrosis in response to liver damage. These cells are critical for study of liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis.
Notable Publication: Deactivation of Hepatic Stellate Cells by Culturing on VECELL Inserts by Shinichiro Horiuchi, Yukie Kuroda, Ryuya Fujii, Su-ryang Kim, and Seiichi Ishida
One issue with studying stellate cells is keeping them in their quiescent state. In order to maintain these cells you must typically culture them as adherent cells in 2D culture. Plating these cells onto a culture vessel though will typically yield fibroblast-like activated cells. This complicates the study of the activation process and pathways.
Researchers at the National Institute of Health Sciences were able to culture Lonza’s stellate cells on Preset VECELL® inserts to keep the cells in a more quiescent state. This technology uses collagen type I coated mesh in a scaffold. After culturing on these inserts, researchers noted a decrease in activation marker expression as well as a decrease in morphology associated with activation.
Better understanding of stellate activation could potentially lead to better treatment and prevention of liver damage. Animal testing can be used for the study of drug treatments for liver damage, but this research demonstrates this technology may be suitable for in-vitro study of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.
You can click here to read the full article.
Written by Joseph
Scientific Support Specialist, Lonza Pharma-Bioscience Solutions at Lonza
References
- Melato M, Sasso F, Zanconati F. Liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. A study of their relationship in 2563 autopsies. Zentralbl Pathol 1993; 139: 25–30.
- Graudal N, Leth P, Marbjerg L, Galloe AM. Characteristics of cirrhosis undiagnosed during life: a comparative analysis of 73 undiagnosed cases and 149 diagnosed cases of cirrhosis, detected in 4929 consecutive autopsies. J Intern Med 1991; 230:165–171.
- Lim YS, Kim WR. The global impact of hepatic fibrosis and end-stage liver disease. Clin Liver Dis 2008; 12: 733–746.