| First Author | McHedlidze T | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | 357-71 |
| PubMed ID | 23954132 | Mgi Jnum | J:208227 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5562503 | Doi | 10.1016/j.immuni.2013.07.018 |
| Citation | McHedlidze T, et al. (2013) Interleukin-33-dependent innate lymphoid cells mediate hepatic fibrosis. Immunity 39(2):357-71 |
| abstractText | Liver fibrosis is a consequence of chronic liver diseases and thus a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Clinical evidence and animal studies suggest that local tissue homeostasis is disturbed due to immunological responses to chronic hepatocellular stress. Poorly defined stress-associated inflammatory networks are thought to mediate gradual accumulation of extracellular-matrix components, ultimately leading to fibrosis and liver failure. Here we have reported that hepatic expression of interleukin-33 (IL-33) was both required and sufficient for severe hepatic fibrosis in vivo. We have demonstrated that IL-33's profibrotic effects related to activation and expansion of liver resident innate lymphoid cells (ILC2). We identified ILC2-derived IL-13, acting through type-II IL-4 receptor-dependent signaling via the transcription factor STAT6 and hepatic stellate-cell activation, as a critical downstream cytokine of IL-33-dependent pathologic tissue remodeling and fibrosis. Our data reveal key immunological networks implicated in hepatic fibrosis and support the concept of modulation of IL-33 bioactivity for therapeutic purposes. |
