Gene Expression Patterns of Quiescent and Activated Mouse Primary Hepatic Stellate Cell (HSC)

Liver fibrosis is a manifestation of chronic liver injury. It leads to hepatic dysfunction and is a critical element in the pathogenesis of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) plays a central role in liver fibrogenesis of different etiologies. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of this phenomenon, it is important to analyze the changes in gene expression that accompany the HSC activation process. In this study, we isolated quiescent and activated HSCs from control mice and mice with CCl4-induced liver fibrosis, respectively, and performed RNA sequencing to compare the differences in gene expression patterns between the two types of HSCs. Quiescent and activated hepatic stellate cells (qHSCs and aHSCs) were isolated from three control mice (0.1mL olive oil gavage, thrice a week for eight weeks) and three mice with CCl4-induced liver fibrosis (0.1 mL of a 40% CCl4-olive oil solution gavage, thrice a week for eight weeks) respectively. And transcriptome profiles of qHSCs and aHSCs were generated by RNA sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 4000.