Disparate profiles of dys-regulated miRNAs in activated hepatic stellate cells

Abstract

We read with great interest the article by Lakner et al. in a recent issue of HEPATOLOGY.1 In this study, the authors found a novel regulator of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), miR-19b, which acted via the transforming growth factor-β signaling pathway. miR-19b was expressed differently between quiescent and activated HSCs, using comparative analysis of microRNA (miRNA) expression. As is well known, comparative analysis is the gold standard approach for detecting dys-regulated miRNAs. This same approach has been used on HSC in 4 other studies related to the topic.2-5 The profiles of dys-regulated miRNAs in activated HSCs are summarized in Table 1. The same protocol was executed with the following steps in these studies: step 1, quiescent HSCs were isolated from normal rat liver; step 2, activated HSCs were acquired by culturing quiescent HSCs in vitro for 10 or 14 days until activated; step 3, the different miRNA expression patterns of activated and quiescent HSCs were analyzed by comparative analysis. However, there was an interesting phenomenon shown in Table 1, which was that the profiles of dys-expressed miRNAs in activated HSCs varied greatly across the studies. The issue remains why the same protocol for detecting dys-regulated miRNAs in activated HSCs resulted in such different miRNA profiles. Shao-Long Chen M.D.*, Ming-Hua Zheng M.D.*, Tao Yang M.D.*, Mei Song M.D.*, Yong-Ping Chen M.D.*, * Department of Infection and Liver Diseases, Liver Research Center,The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China.