Copyright
©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Aug 15, 2015; 6(3): 43-50
Published online Aug 15, 2015. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v6.i3.43
Published online Aug 15, 2015. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v6.i3.43
Emerging roles of myeloid derived suppressor cells in hepatic inflammation and fibrosis
Linda Hammerich, Frank Tacke, Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Author contributions: Hammerich L and Tacke F wrote this editorial.
Supported by The German Research Foundation (DFG Ta434/3-1 and SFB/TRR57); and by the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF) Aachen.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Frank Tacke, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany. frank.tacke@gmx.net
Telephone: +49-241-8035848 Fax: +49-241-8082455
Received: January 9, 2015
Peer-review started: January 10, 2015
First decision: March 6, 2015
Revised: March 16, 2015
Accepted: June 1, 2015
Article in press: June 2, 2015
Published online: August 15, 2015
Peer-review started: January 10, 2015
First decision: March 6, 2015
Revised: March 16, 2015
Accepted: June 1, 2015
Article in press: June 2, 2015
Published online: August 15, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a heterogeneous population of immune-suppressive cells with important roles during inflammation, infection and cancer. The liver is a primary site for MDSC induction and accumulation, and recent studies linked these cells to the pathogenesis of hepatic inflammation, fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. MDSC can limit tissue injury during acute hepatitis, while they may favor viral persistence in chronic hepatitis. MDSC are also induced during development of liver cancer and suppress anti-tumoral immunity, but their involvement in hepatic fibrosis is less clear. Thus, modulating MDSC functionality might represent a promising novel therapeutic target for liver diseases.