Control of hepatic stellate cells of liver health and disease

Endosialin has been identified as a marker of tumor endothelial cells (Science 289:1197,2000). Yet, detailed expression profiling analyses by our and other laboratories revealed that it is not expressed by endothelial cells. Instead, Endosialin is expressed by tumor-associated pericytes and stromal myofibroblasts, identifying it as a marker of the activated mesenchymal lineage (Am J Pathol 172:486, 2008). We consequently hypothesized that Endosialin may be functionally involved in organ fibrosis, a process critically dependent on the recruitment and proliferation of activated mesenchymal cells. In line with this…