Impact of soluble Endoglin on TGF-β1 mediated immediate early responses in HepG2 cells

Introduction: Expression of Endoglin has been demonstrated in all cells of the liver except hepatocytes [1]. However, data published with respect to the hepatic function of Endoglin is patchy [2]. Nevertheless, there is a wealth of data detecting the soluble form of this receptor in the serum under different pathologic situations affecting the liver, e.g. cystic fibrosis associated liver disease [3]. We have previously shown that Endoglin is highly expressed in hepatic stellate cells [4]. Upon shedding from the HSC surface, this receptor might act not only in an autocrine but also in a paracrine fashion on signa…