20 - World Journal of Gastroenterology

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doi:10.3748/wjg.v17.i20.2520
Natalia A Osna, MD, PhD, Series Editor
Role of lipid rafts in liver health and disease
Angela Dolganiuc
Angela Dolganiuc, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts
Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, United States
Author contributions: Dolganiuc A solely contributed to this
paper.
Supported by Grant AA016571 from NIAAA
Correspondence to: Angela Dolganiuc, MD, PhD, Department
of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School,
364 Plantation Street, LRB-270-H, Worcester, MA 01605,
United States. angela.dolganiuc@umassmed.edu
Telephone: +1-508-8565955 Fax: +1-508-8565303
Received: January 6, 2011 Revised: February 24, 2011
Accepted: March 3, 2011
Published online: May 28, 2011
Abstract
Liver diseases are an increasingly common cause of
morbidity and mortality; new approaches for investigation
of mechanisms of liver diseases and identification
of therapeutic targets are emergent. Lipid rafts (LRs)
are specialized domains of cellular membranes that are
enriched in saturated lipids; they are small, mobile, and
are key components of cellular architecture, protein partition
to cellular membranes, and signaling events. LRs
have been identified in the membranes of all liver cells,
parenchymal and non-parenchymal; more importantly,
LRs are active participants in multiple physiological and
pathological conditions in individual types of liver cells.
This article aims to review experimental-based evidence
with regard to LRs in the liver, from the perspective of
the liver as a whole organ composed of a multitude of
cell types. We have gathered up-to-date information related
to the role of LRs in individual types of liver cells, in
liver health and diseases, and identified the possibilities
of LR-dependent therapeutic targets in liver diseases.
© 2011 Baishideng. All rights reserved.
Key words: Hepatocytes; Stellate cells; Kupffer cells;
Endothelial cells; Signaling; Therapeutic; Viral; Hepatitis
C virus; Metabolism
WJG|www.wjgnet.com
World J Gastroenterol 2011 May 28; 17(20): 2520-2535
ISSN 1007-9327 (print) ISSN 2219-2840 (online)
© 2011 Baishideng. All rights reserved.
Peer reviewer: Munechika Enjoji, MD, PhD, Department of
Clinical Pharmacology, Fukuoka University, 8-17-1 Nanakuma,
Jonan-ku, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan
Dolganiuc A. Role of lipid rafts in liver health and disease. World
J Gastroenterol 2011; 17(20): 2520-2535 Available from: URL:
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v17/i20/2520.htm DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v17.i20.2520
INTRODUCTION
TOPIC HIGHLIGHT
The liver is the largest parenchymal organ of the body
and has a multitude of important and complex functions;
among the most notable are the metabolism of fat, proteins,
and carbohydrates, synthesis and secretion of bile,
microelement recycling and detoxification of products
resulting from body metabolism (bilirubin, ammonia, etc.)
and from exogenous toxins (drugs, alcohol and environment)
[1] . The liver is also an immune [2] and an endocrine [3,4]
organ and functions as a blood capacitance reservoir [5,6] .
To accomplish these many assignments, the liver accommodates
a wide variety of cell types, including those that
call liver “home”, namely liver progenitor cells, hepatocytes,
Kupffer cells (KCs), stellate cells (SCs) and the cellular
components of vasculature, and those that use the
liver as a temporary and/or terminal station, such as blood
cells [1,7] . Liver diseases are the 10th leading cause of death
and account for significant morbidity across the entire age
and gender spectrum of the US population [8,9] . The mechanisms
of liver diseases are extensively researched but
not fully understood. More recently, research data have
emerged proposing that some pathogenic mechanisms,
such as inflammation, tissue death and regeneration, and
organ remodeling, are shared across a large spectrum of
liver diseases of distinct etiologies [10-14] , with the suggestion
that common denominators of cell structure or function
may be involved. Here we have focused on a common
denominator of the cellular structure, the lipid rafts
(LRs), as players in liver physiology and pathology.
2520 May 28, 2011|Volume 17|Issue 20|