This article is part of the supplement: 11th International Symposium on the Cells of the Hepatic Sinusoid and their Relation to Other Cells .

Proceedings

PPAR Gamma and Hepatic Stellate Cells

Saswati Hazra¹ , Takeo Miyahara¹ , Richard A Rippe² and Hidekazu Tsukamoto^1,3

¹  Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033', USA

²  Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7038, USA

³  Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA

author email corresponding author email

Comparative Hepatology 2004, 3(Suppl 1):S7doi:10.1186/1476-5926-2-S1-S7

Published:	14 January 2004

Abstract

Activation of Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) in fibrogenesis involves distinct morphological and biochemical changes. This activation requires the coordinated changes in activity of several transcription factors. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) is one such factor whose activity is decreased in activated HSC. PPAR gamma ligands suppress several markers of HSC activation such as expression of collagen and alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), cell proliferation and migration. Expression of PPAR gamma, per se, also inhibits HSC activation. These findings support the role of PPAR gamma in reversion of activated HSC toward their quiescent state.