Collagen synthesis in an established liver connective tissue cell line (GRX) during induction of the fat-storing phenotype.

We have studied collagen synthesis and secretion in an established liver connective tissue cell line (GRX) that can be induced in vitro to express either the myofibroblastic or the fat-storing (lipocyte) phenotype. In lipocytes, collagen synthesis was reduced. Their intracellular collagen degradation corresponded to 15% of newly synthesized collagen. In myofibroblasts, collagen synthesis was high but its secretion was considerably altered by intracellular collagen degradation, which attained up to 60% of newly synthesized collagen. In this in vitro model, we have provided direct evidence that hepatic lipocytes, involved mainly in lipid and retinol metabolism, have a low basal level of collagen synthesis. Myofibroblastic phenotype correlates with increased collagen synthesis and may be directly related to increased collagen deposition in hepatic fibrosis. Modulation of the phenotype of liver connective tissue cells are possibly one of the major points of control in normal and pathological deposition of collagen in liver parenchyma.