[Fibronectin--a key substance in pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis?]

Diffuse and chronic liver damage leads to scar formation of the liver structure accompanied with a disproportionate increase of the extracellular matrix (ECM) constituents. Therapeutic intervention in fibrogenesis with its serious clinical consequences requires analysis of structure and cellular sources of ECM. Fibronectin (FN) is a high molecular weight glycoprotein and increases first among ECM proteins during liver fibrosis. The following report summarizes the crucial aspects of FN during fibrogenesis. Besides its controvertible role as initiator or regulator of fibrogenesis FN plays an important role as a scaffold for other matrix proteins.