1. Academic Validation
  2. Liver fibrosis and repair: immune regulation of wound healing in a solid organ

Liver fibrosis and repair: immune regulation of wound healing in a solid organ

  • Nat Rev Immunol. 2014 Mar;14(3):181-94. doi: 10.1038/nri3623.
Antonella Pellicoro 1 Prakash Ramachandran 1 John P Iredale 1 Jonathan A Fallowfield 1
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 The University of Edinburgh/Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Inflammation Research, Queen's Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
Abstract

Fibrosis is a highly conserved and co-ordinated protective response to tissue injury. The interaction of multiple pathways, molecules and systems determines whether fibrosis is self-limiting and homeostatic, or whether it is uncontrolled and excessive. Immune cells have been identified as key players in this fibrotic cascade, with the capacity to exert either injury-inducing or repair-promoting effects. A multi-organ approach was recently suggested to identify the core and regulatory pathways in fibrosis, with the aim of integrating the wealth of information emerging from basic fibrosis research. In this Review, we focus on recent advances in liver fibrosis research as a paradigm for wound healing in solid organs and the role of the immune system in regulating and balancing this response.

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