首页    期刊浏览 2024年12月04日 星期三
登录注册

文章基本信息

  • 标题:Activated hepatic stellate cells impair NK cell anti-fibrosis capacity through a TGF-β-dependent emperipolesis in HBV cirrhotic patients
  • 本地全文:下载
  • 作者:Jijing Shi ; Juanjuan Zhao ; Xin Zhang
  • 期刊名称:Scientific Reports
  • 电子版ISSN:2045-2322
  • 出版年度:2017
  • 卷号:7
  • 期号:1
  • DOI:10.1038/srep44544
  • 语种:English
  • 出版社:Springer Nature
  • 摘要:Natural killer (NK) cells can induce liver fibrosis remission by killing hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and producing interferon (IFN)-γ in a mouse model; however, their anti-fibrotic immune-characteristics and regulatory mechanisms by HSCs remain to be determined, especially in livers from HBV-infected liver cirrhosis (LC) patients. We analyzed frequency, phenotype and anti-fibrotic function of hepatic and peripheral NK subsets in 43 HBV-LC patients. We found that hepatic NK subsets from LC patients displayed a decreased frequency, activation status and anti-fibrotic activity compared with those from chronic hepatitis B patients, which were mainly mediated by increased intrahepatic tumour-growth factor (TGF)-β because blockade of TGF-β significantly reversed NK anti-fibrotic function in vitro. In vivo, hepatic NK cells were enriched in proximity to the α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA+) area within mild fibrosis regions; while in severe fibrotic areas, they were either directly attached to or separated from the α-SMA+ region. NK cells from LC patients could enter HSCs to form emperipolesis (a cell-in-cell structure) and become apoptotic; anti-TGF-β treatment ameliorated this emperipolesis. This finding suggested a novel mechanism by which activated HSCs impair NK cells' anti-fibrosis capacity through a TGF-β-dependent emperipolesis in LC patients, providing an anti-fibrotic rational by enhancing NK cell activity.
国家哲学社会科学文献中心版权所有