Background & Aims Hepatic stellate cell activation is a wound-healing response to liver
injury. However, continued activation of stellate cells during chronic liver damage causes
excessive matrix deposition and the formation of pathological scar tissue leading to fibrosis
and ultimately cirrhosis. The importance of sustained stellate cell activation for this
pathological process is well recognized, and several signalling pathways that can promote
stellate cell activation have been identified, such as the TGFβ-, PDGF-, and LPS-dependent …