The hepatic stellate cell in the post-genomic era

The draft human genome sequence was published on February 15, 2001, which will provide a huge amount of information on human genetics, human disease, and human cell biology. Now, medical scientists and cell biologists are turning their attention to illustrating gene expression pattern using gene microarray and to identifying the functions and the expression patterns of proteins encoded by the genes. Hepatic stellate cell is one of the sinusoid-constituent cells that play multiple roles in the liver pathophysiology. Transformation of stellate cells from the vitamin A-storing phenotype to the "myofibroblastic" one closely correlates to hepatic fibrosis during chronic liver trauma. Analyses of the molecular mechanisms of stellate cell activation have made a great progress, in particular, in the field of intracellular signal transduction of transforming growth factor-beta and platelet-derived growth factor, integrin signaling related to cell-adhesion, and cell motility-associated Rho and focal-adhesion kinase. Accumulation of the information on the stellate cell activation would shed light on the establishment of a novel therapeutic strategy against fibrosis of human liver disease.