Molecular details of BMP-7 signaling in hepatic stellate cells and myofibroblasts

Aims: TGF-β1 causes excessive extracellular matrix deposition in the setting of fibrogenic lesions. In the liver, BMP-7 is an antifibrotic ligand abrogating profibrogenic TGF-β1 responses [1]. However, the exact molecular details regulating this antagonism are unknown. We employed a model system (L6E9 myoblasts) which shows a myofibroblastic phenotype upon treatment with TGF-β1 [2] resembling that of the transition of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) into myofibroblast-like cells (MFB). Previously, we have already shown that TGF-β1 responses are counteracted by BMP-7 in (L6E9-) myoblasts [3].