Retinoic Acid Receptor‐β Is Downregulated in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Cirrhosis and Its Expression Inhibits Myosin‐Driven Activation and Durotaxis in Hepatic Stellate Cells
Ernesto Cortes, Dariusz Lachowski, Alistair Rice, Antonios Chronopoulos, Benjamin Robinson, Stephen Thorpe, David A Lee, Lucia A Possamai, Haiyun Wang, David J Pinato, Armando E. del Río Hernández – 28 July 2018 – Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are essential perisinusoidal cells in both healthy and diseased liver. HSCs modulate extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis when quiescent, but in liver fibrosis, HSCs become activated and promote excess deposition of ECM molecules and tissue stiffening via force generation and mechanosensing.