Single-cell transcriptomic characterization of stiffness-dependent transcriptomic changes in hepatic stellate cells

HSCs have long been known to undergo spontaneous activation when cultured on conventional rigid tissue-culture polystyrene (TCPS). However, the stiffness of TCPS is typically in the gigapascal range, far exceeding the physiological range of liver stiffness, which is measured in kilopascals.

This study aimed to determine how substrate stiffness shapes transcriptomic profiles of primary mouse HSCs. To this end, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of freshly isolated HSCs and HSCs cultured on substrates with different stiffness.