Section of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Hepatology. 2010 Apr;51(4):1438-44. doi: 10.1002/hep.23405.
Portal fibroblasts are an important yet often overlooked nonparenchymal cell population in the liver. They are distinct from hepatic stellate cells, yet like stellate cells differentiate in the setting of chronic injury to fibrogenic myofibroblasts, playing an important role in collagen production in the fibrotic liver. Portal fibroblasts (PFs) are located adjacent to bile duct epithelia and thus play a particularly significant role in biliary fibrosis. New data suggest that they may also have key functions independent of fibrogenesis. This review addresses the definition and characteristics of PFs as well as their signaling pathways, interactions with the biliary epithelium, and contributions to liver pathobiology.
PFs are an important and multifunctional nonparenchymal cell population in need of further study.
门脉纤维母细胞是肝脏中一种重要但常被忽视的非实质细胞群体。它们有别于肝星状细胞,但与肝星状细胞一样,在慢性损伤时分化为成纤维肌纤维母细胞,在纤维性肝脏中胶原的产生中发挥重要作用。门脉纤维母细胞(PFs)位于胆管上皮细胞附近,因此在胆管纤维化中起着特别重要的作用。新的数据表明,它们也可能具有独立于纤维化的关键功能。这篇综述讨论了 PFs 的定义和特征,以及它们的信号通路、与胆管上皮的相互作用以及对肝脏病理生理学的贡献。
PFs 是一种重要的、多功能的非实质细胞群体,需要进一步研究。