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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 294/3/G595    most recent 00543.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Omenetti, A. Articles by Diehl, A. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Omenetti, A. Articles by Diehl, A. M.

THEMES

The Adventures of Sonic Hedgehog in Development and Repair. II. Sonic hedgehog and liver development, inflammation, and cancer

¹Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Submitted 19 November 2007 ; accepted in final form 20 January 2008

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling modulates tissue remodeling by controlling the fate of Hh-responsive cells. Healthy adult livers exhibit little Hh activity. However, cells involved in adult liver repair, including myofibroblasts and progenitors, are capable of producing and responding to Hh ligands. During adult liver injury, Hh ligand production increases and populations of Hh-responsive cells expand. This process is accompanied by fibrosis. Ligand production and Hh-responsive cells diminish as fibrosis resolves and normal hepatic architecture is restored, but Hh signaling persists in hepatocellular carcinomas. These findings suggest that the Hh pathway mediates remodeling responses that are triggered by adult liver damage.

hedgehog signaling; liver repair; stellate cells; liver fibrosis