REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1635763
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Immune Cells in Tissue Regeneration: Mechanisms and Therapeutic InsightsView all 3 articles
Dynamic Crosstalk between HSCs and Liver Microenvironment: Multicellular Interactions in the Regulation of Liver Fibrosis
Provisionally accepted
Luping Wang1
Yi Huang1,2Jingrong Chen1Jialu Gao1Sihan Chen1Mingqi Zhao1Jiguo Lin1Shunqing Zhou3Yannan Shen1
Yunyun Cheng1,2*- 1NHC Key Laboratory of Radiobiology, College of Public Health, Changchun, China
- 2Jilin University, Changchun, China
- 3The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Liver fibrosis is induced by persistent stimulation of various factors, resulting from complex multicellular interactions and multifactorial networks. Without intervention, it can progress to cirrhosis and even liver cancer. Current understanding suggests that liver fibrosis is reversible, making it crucial to explore effective therapeutic strategies for its alleviation. Although the activation and proliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play a pivotal role in liver fibrosis, the importance of hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) and immune cells cannot be ignored, the interactions of these cells with HSCs are worth discussing. Therefore, based on the diversity of cell composition in the liver organ, this review summarizes the impact of the parenchymal and nonparenchymal hepatic cells on liver fibrosis, including hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, hepatic macrophages, T cells, NK cells, B cells and LSECs, as well as the fibroblast subpopulations. And further discussed the interactions of these cells with HSCs and illustrated intercellular signal transduction among these cells in contributing to liver fibrosis.Clarifying the roles and interactions of various cells in the development of liver fibrosis will be helpful to explore effective strategies for the treatment of liver fibrosis.
Keywords: liver fibrosis, Hepatic Stellate Cells, Cell communications, Hepatic immune cells, intercellular signal transduction
Received: 27 May 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Huang, Chen, Gao, Chen, Zhao, Lin, Zhou, Shen and Cheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yunyun Cheng, Jilin University, Changchun, China
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