Roles and therapeutic targeting of dendritic cells in liver fibrosis

Abstract

Liver fibrosis is a common pathological condition marked by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins, resulting in irreversible cirrhosis and cancer. Dendritic cells (DCs) act as the crucial component of hepatic immunity and are believed to affect fibrosis by regulating the proliferation and differentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), a key mediator of fibrogenesis, and by interplaying with immune cells in the liver. This review concisely describes the process of fibrogenesis, and the phenotypic and functional characteristics of DCs in the liver. Besides, it focuses on the interaction between DCs and HSCs, T cells, and natural killer (NK) cells, as well as the dual roles of DCs in liver fibrosis, for the sake of exploring the potential of targeting DCs as a therapeutic strategy for the disease.

Keywords:

• Liver fibrosis
• hepatic stellate cell
• dendritic cell
• T cell
• natural killer cell
• anti-fibrosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Excellent Youth Project of Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (YQ2022H015), and the Scientific Research Project of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Heilongjiang Province (ZHY19-062).