Does a high-cholesterol diet exacerbate liver fibrosis in mice via accumulation of free cholesterol in hepatic stellate cells?
Dietary cholesterol aggravates liver fibrosis because free cholesterol accumulates in HSCs, leading to increased TLR4 signaling, down-regulation of bone morphogenetic protein and activin membrane-bound inhibitor, and sensitization of HSC to TGFβ. This pathway might be targeted by antifibrotic therapies.
FLOT1 plays an important role in promoting proliferation and tumorigenesis of human breast cancer and may represent a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for the disease.