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Wnt signaling enhances the activation and survival of human hepatic stellate cells
Author(s) -
Myung Sun Jung,
Yoon Jung-Hwan,
Gwak Geum-Youn,
Kim Won,
Lee Jeong-Hoon,
Kim Kang Mo,
Shin Chan Soo,
Jang Ja June,
Lee Sung-Hee,
Lee Soo-Mi,
Lee Hyo-Suk
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.05.050
Subject(s) - wnt signaling pathway , wnt3a , hepatic stellate cell , frizzled , lrp5 , lrp6 , cancer research , signal transduction , microbiology and biotechnology , apoptosis , biology , chemistry , endocrinology , biochemistry
Wnt signaling was implicated in pulmonary and renal fibrosis. Since Wnt activity is enhanced in liver cirrhosis, Wnt signaling may also participate in hepatic fibrogenesis. Thus, we determined if Wnt signaling modulates hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and survival. Wnt3A treatment significantly activated human HSCs, while this was inhibited in secreted frizzled‐related protein 1 (sFRP1) overexpressing cells. Wnt3A treatment significantly suppressed TRAIL‐induced apoptosis in control HSCs versus sFRP1 over‐expressing cells. Particularly, caspase 3 was more activated in sFRP1 over‐expressing cells following TRAIL and Wnt3A treatment. These observations imply that Wnt signaling promotes hepatic fibrosis by enhancing HSC activation and survival.