Non-degradable collagen increases liver fibrosis but not hepatocellular carcinoma in mice

Although hepatocellular cancer (HCC) usually occurs in the setting of liver fibrosis, the causal relationship between liver fibrosis and HCC is unclear. By studying in vivo and in vitro models of HCC using Colr/r mice (that produce a collagenase resistant Type I collagen) or WT mice, we aim to assess the relationship between Type I collagen, liver fibrosis, and experimental HCC. HCC was either chemically induced in WT and Colr/r mice or Hepa 1-6 cells were engrafted into WT and Colr/r livers. The effect of Hepatic Stellate Cells (HSCs) from WT and Colr/r mice on the growth of Hepa 1-6 cells was studied by using multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS) and by xenografts.

Source: American Journal of Pathology - June 10, 2021 Category: Pathology Authors: Jacopo Baglieri, Cuili Zhang, Shuang Liang, Xiao Liu, Takahiro Nishio, Sara B. Rosenthal, Debanjan Dhar, Hua Su, Min Cong, Jidong Jia, Mojgan Hosseini, Michael Karin, Tatiana Kisseleva, David A. Brenner Source Type: research