C‐C motif chemokine receptor 9 positive macrophages activate hepatic stellate cells and promote liver fibrosis in mice
Po‐sung Chu, Nobuhiro Nakamoto, Hirotoshi Ebinuma, Shingo Usui, Keita Saeki, Atsuhiro Matsumoto, Yohei Mikami, Kazuo Sugiyama, Kengo Tomita, Takanori Kanai, Hidetsugu Saito, Toshifumi Hibi – 4 March 2013 – Chemokine receptors mediate migration of immune cells into the liver, thereby promoting liver inflammation. C‐C motif chemokine receptor (CCR) 9+ macrophages are crucial in the pathogenesis of acute liver inflammation, but the role and underlying mechanisms of this macrophage subset in chronic liver injury and subsequent liver fibrosis are not fully understood.