TY - JOUR T1 - Targeted Drug Delivery to Hepatic Stellate Cells for the Treatment of Liver Fibrosis JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 695 LP - 702 DO - 10.1124/jpet.118.256156 VL - 370 IS - 3 AU - Zhijin Chen AU - Akshay Jain AU - Hao Liu AU - Zhen Zhao AU - Kun Cheng Y1 - 2019/09/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/370/3/695.abstract N2 - Liver fibrosis is caused by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix during chronic liver injuries. Although clinical evidence suggests that liver fibrosis can be reversed, there is no standard therapy for liver fibrosis. Moreover, there is a lack of diagnostic tools to detect early-stage liver fibrosis. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is the key step during liver fibrogenesis, and its mechanism has been extensively studied by various cell culture and animal models. Targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to activated HSCs is therefore critical for the successful treatment of liver fibrosis. A number of protein markers have been found to be overexpressed in activated HSCs, and their ligands have been used to specifically deliver various antifibrotic agents. In this review, we summarize these HSC-specific protein markers and their ligands for targeted delivery of antifibrotic agents. ER -