title: Human hepatic stellate cells and inflammation: A regulated cytokine network balance.
abstract: Uncertainty about the safety of cell therapy continues to be a major challenge to the medical community. Inflammation and the associated immune response represent a major safety concern hampering the development of long-term clinical therapy. In vivo interactions between the cell graft and the host immune system are mediated by functional environmental sensors and stressors that play significant roles in the immunobiology of the graft. Within this context, human liver stellate cells (HSC) demonstrated marked immunological plasticity that has main importance for future liver cell therapy application.
  
  
  
  By using qPCR technique, we established the cytokine gene expression profile of HSCs and investigated the effect of an inflammatory environment on the immunobiology of HSCs.
  
  
  
  HSCs present a specific immunological profile as demonstrated by the expression and modulation of major immunological cytokines. Under constitutive conditions, the cytokine pattern expressed by HSCs was characterized by the high expression of IL-6. Inflammation critically modulated the expression of major immunological cytokines. As evidenced by the induction of the expression of several inflammatory genes, HSCs acquire a pro-inflammatory profile that ultimately might have critical implications for their immunological shape.
  
  
  
  These new observations have to be taken into account in any future liver cell therapy application based on the use of HSCs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Cell Therapy, Jules Bordet Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Erasme, Bâtiment de Transfusion (Level +1), Route de Lennik n° 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: mnajar@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Najar
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Faculty of Sciences I, Lebanese University, Hadath, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Hussein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fayyad-Kazan
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, P.O. Box 36, Byblos, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Wissam H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Faour
authors.affiliation: Liver Cell Biology Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Adil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El Taghdouini
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Cell Therapy, Jules Bordet Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Erasme, Bâtiment de Transfusion (Level +1), Route de Lennik n° 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raicevic
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pediatric Hepatology and Cell Therapy, Institute of Experimental & Clinical Research, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mustapha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Najimi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Cell Therapy, Jules Bordet Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Erasme, Bâtiment de Transfusion (Level +1), Route de Lennik n° 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toungouz
authors.affiliation: Liver Cell Biology Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Leo A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: van Grunsven
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pediatric Hepatology and Cell Therapy, Institute of Experimental & Clinical Research, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sokal
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Cell Therapy, Jules Bordet Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Erasme, Bâtiment de Transfusion (Level +1), Route de Lennik n° 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lagneaux
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055166:Hepatic Stellate Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6
keywords: Hepatic stellate cells; Immune response balance; Immunological cytokine profile; Inflammation; Liver cell therapy