Cancer-associated fibroblasts in hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Differentiation into quiescent hepatic stellate cells, hepatic stellate cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts

	Quiescent hepatic stellate cells	Hepatic stellate cells	Cancer associated
	(fibroblast)	(myofibroblast)	fibroblasts
Morphology	Spindle shape with numerous intracellular droplets[16]	Spindle shape	Spindle shape
Origin	Mesoderm[17]	Quiescent hepatic stellate cells	Activated hepatic stellate cells
Location	Space of Disse, sinusoidal spaces	Periportal lesion	Tumor stroma
Biological markers	Desmin[17]	αSMA, p75NTR[17]	αSMA, COL11A1[13]
Function	Store the vitamin A and fat	Wound healing fibrosis	Tumor progression
Cytokines	-	Production of the collagens, PDGF, TGF-β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β[25,26]	production of the collagens, TGF-β, HGF, FGF, VEGF, IL-6[42-58], etc

p75NTR: p75 neurotrophin receptor; αSMA: Alpha smooth muscle actin; COL11A1: (pro)collagen 11A1; TGF-β: Transforming growth factor-β; HGF: Hepatocyte growth factor; FGF: Fibroblast growth factor; PDGF: Platelet-derived growth factor; VEGF: Vascular endothelial frowth factor; IL-6: Interleukin-6.