What is human hepatic stellate cells?
Andrew Henderson
Updated on March 14, 2026
What is human hepatic stellate cells?
Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are liver-specific mesenchymal cells, and account for 5~8% of the cells in the liver. The stellate cell is the major cell type involved in liver fibrosis in response to liver injury.
What is fibrosis of the liver?
Liver fibrosis is the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins including collagen that occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. Advanced liver fibrosis results in cirrhosis, liver failure, and portal hypertension and often requires liver transplantation.
What are LX-2 cells?
LX-2 cells were first introduced in 2003 [6] and initially characterized in 2005 [4] as a low-passaged human cell line derived from normal human stellate cells that are spontaneously immortalized. Cells were originally selected by their ability to grow under low serum conditions.
What is a stellate cell?
The stellate cell, previously known as the Ito cell, fat-storing cell, perisinusoidal cell or lipocyte, is a major storage site for vitamin A. In liver injury, it becomes a transitional cell or myofibroblast-like cell capable of synthesising collagen types I, III and IV as well as laminin.
Is fatty liver and fibrosis the same?
FLD can progress to a condition called steatohepatitis when the accumulation of fat in the liver causes inflammation, cell death, and scarring. Long-standing steatohepatitis leads to liver fibrosis as scar tissue builds up and replaces healthy liver tissue.
How do you get rid of liver fibrosis?
There is no specific treatment of liver fibrosis. Since it is a symptom of another liver problem, the most effective way to treat it is to address the underlying condition. Removing the cause of the liver damage will stop the fibrosis and allow the liver to heal. In the early stages, the damage is usually reversible.
What activated stellate cells?
In a normal, healthy liver, stellate cells are quiescent. When the liver is damaged by toxins or virus infection, hepatocytes and immune cells release factors that induce stellate cells to undergo a dramatic transformation into what is referred to as the activated state.
What cells produce collagen in liver?
In a cryptogenic fibrotic liver, abundant type IV collagen was observed in hepatocytes. These results suggest that hepatocytes, fat-storing cells and endothelial cells are engaged in production of extracellular matrix components in normal human liver. types III and IV collagen may produce these collagens.
What tissue is formed by stellate?
liver
The stellate cell is the major cell type involved in liver fibrosis, which is the formation of scar tissue in response to liver damage….
| Hepatic stellate cell | |
|---|---|
| Basic liver structure | |
| Details | |
| Location | perisinusoidal space of liver |
| Identifiers |
What is stage 2 fibrosis of the liver?
Stage 2: Scarring If the amount of tissue within the liver is overtaken by Fibrosis, toxins will build up, waiting to be processed. The more this happens, the more the tissue will become fibrotic and incapable of performing its function.
What is the difference between LX-1 and lx-2 T cells?
The LX-1 cell line was established from an individual clone from the primary T antigen immortalised cultures. The LX-2 cell line was established by selecting for a subline of the LX-1 cells that was able to grow under reduced serum conditions (1% FBS).
What is the relationship between PDGF and TIMP-1 expression in lx-2?
LX-2 have reduced expression of TIMP-1. LX-2, but not LX-1, proliferate in response to PDGF. Both lines express mRNAs for α1 (I) procollagen and HSP47. Transforming growth factor β1 stimulation increased their α1 (I) procollagen mRNA expression, as determined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
Do lx-2 cells express SV40 Large T antigen?
The LX-2 cell line has since been maintained and expanded in low serum media for up to 50 passages. To determine if the cell lines expressed the SV40 large T antigen, they were analysed by immunocytochemistry (fig 1).
How do you culture LX-1 and lx-2 cells?
The LX-1 cell line was cultured in DMEM with 10% FBS. To determine the transfection efficiency of LX-2 cells, 2.5 μg of a plasmid expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein pEGFP-C2 (Clontech, Palo Alto, California, USA) was mixed with 7.5 μl of Fugene in 0.25 ml serum free media for 15 minutes.