A rule-based multiscale model of hepatic stellate cell plasticity: Critical role of the inactivation loop in fibrosis progression.

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the source of extracellular matrix (ECM) whose overproduction leads to fibrosis, a condition that impairs liver functions in chronic liver diseases. Understanding the dynamics of HSCs will provide insights needed to develop new therapeutic approaches. Few models of hepatic fibrosis have been proposed, and none of them include the heterogeneity of HSC phenotypes recently highlighted by single-cell RNA sequencing analyses.

Characterization of hepatitis B viral forms from patient plasma using velocity gradient: Evidence for an excess of capsids in fractions enriched in Dane particles.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) morphogenesis is characterized by a large over-production of subviral particles and recently described new forms in parallel of complete viral particles (VP). This study was designed to depict circulating viral forms in HBV infected patient plasmas, using velocity gradients and most sensitive viral markers. Plasmas from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, HBeAg positive or negative, genotype D or E, were fractionated on velocity and equilibrium gradients with or without detergent treatment.

The contribution of more sensitive hepatitis B surface antigen assays to detecting and monitoring hepatitis B infection.

Background: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) remains the main viral marker for screening and monitoring hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The quantification limit of most current HBsAg assays is around 0.05 IU/mL.

Increasing 3D Matrix Rigidity Strengthens Proliferation and Spheroid Development of Human Liver Cells in a Constant Growth Factor Environment.

Mechanical forces influence the growth and shape of virtually all tissues and organs. Recent studies show that increased cell contractibility, growth and differentiation might be normalized by modulating cell tensions. Particularly, the role of these tensions applied by the extracellular matrix during liver fibrosis could influence the hepatocarcinogenesis process.

Linear least square (LLS) method for pixel-resolution analysis of polarization dependent SHG images of collagen fibrils.

A linear least square (LLS) method is proposed to process polarization dependent SHG intensity analysis at pixel-resolution level in order to provide an analytic solution of nonlinear susceptibility χ(2) coefficients and of fibril orientation. This model is applicable to fibrils with identical orientation in the excitation volume. It has been validated on type I collagen fibrils from cell-free gel, tendon and extracellular matrix of F1 biliary epithelial cells.

Discoidin domain receptor 1 controls linear invadosome formation via a Cdc42-Tuba pathway.

Accumulation of type I collagen fibrils in tumors is associated with an increased risk of metastasis. Invadosomes are F-actin structures able to degrade the extracellular matrix. We previously found that collagen I fibrils induced the formation of peculiar linear invadosomes in an unexpected integrin-independent manner.