Figure 1.

Role of each cell type in the liver during the pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH. In a healthy liver, hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, Kupffer cells, HSCs, and LSECs play distinct roles in maintaining both structural and functional homeostasis. Upon injury, the cellular crosstalk among distinct hepatic cellular compartments leads to drastic structural and phenotypic alterations and to activation of cholangiocytes, LSECs, Kupffer cells, and HSCs into their relevant pathological states, triggering the pathogenesis of NAFLD and NASH.