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Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Measurement of Liver Stiffness Using Atomic Force Microscopy Coupled with Polarization Microscopy
Published on: July 20, 2022
Stiffness-induced modulation of ERG transcription factor in chronic liver disease
Sonia-Emilia Selicean1,2, Eric Felli1,2, Cong Wang1,2
1Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Chronic liver disease (CLD) is characterised by liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) dysfunction. Mechanical forces and inflammation are among the leading factors. ETS-related gene (ERG) is an endothelial-specific transcription factor, involved in maintaining cell quiescence and homeostasis. Our study aimed to understand the expression and modulation of ERG in CLD. ERG expression was characterised and correlated to clinical data in human liver cirrhosis at different disease stages. ERG dynamics in response to stiffness and inflammation were investigated in primary healthy and cirrhotic rat LSEC and in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). ERG is markedly downregulated in cirrhosis independently of disease stage or aetiology and its expression is modulated by substrate stiffness in ECs. Inflammation downregulates ERG in cells on physiological stiffness, but not on high stiffness, suggesting a complementary role of inflammation and stiffness in suppressing ERG. This study outlines ERG as an LSEC inflammation and stiffness-responsive transcription factor in cirrhosis.
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