Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and their activated derivatives, often referred to as myofibroblasts (MFs), play a key role in progression of chronic liver injuries leading to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Until recently, MFs were considered a homogenous cell type majorly due to lack of techniques that allow complex molecular studies at a single-cell resolution. Recent technical advancements in genetic lineage-tracing models as well as the exponential growth of studies with single-cell transcriptome and proteome analyses have uncovered hidden heterogeneities among the HSC and MF populations in healthy states as well as chronic liver injuries at the various stages of tissue deformation. The identification of different phenotypes along the HSC/MF axis, which either maintain essential liver functions (“good” HSCs), emerge during fibrosis (“bad” HSCs), or even promote hepatocellular carcinoma (“ugly” HSCs), may lay the foundation for targeting a particular MF phenotype as potential treatment for chronic liver injuries.

中文翻译：

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“好、坏、丑”——关于肝脏中肝星状细胞的不同表型

肝星状细胞 (HSC) 及其活化衍生物，通常称为肌成纤维细胞 (MF)，在导致纤维化、肝硬化和肝细胞癌的慢性肝损伤进展中发挥关键作用。直到最近，MF 还被认为是同质细胞类型，主要是由于缺乏能够在单细胞分辨率下进行复杂分子研究的技术。遗传谱系追踪模型的最新技术进步以及单细胞转录组和蛋白质组分析研究的指数增长揭示了健康状态下 HSC 和 MF 群体之间隐藏的异质性以及组织各个阶段的慢性肝损伤形变。沿 HSC/MF 轴识别不同表型，这些表型要么维持基本肝功能（“好”HSC），要么在纤维化过程中出现（“坏”HSC），甚至促进肝细胞癌（“丑”HSC），可能奠定了为针对特定 MF 表型作为慢性肝损伤的潜在治疗方法奠定了基础。