Fig. 9.

Proposed relationship between ECM proteins, cytoglobin expression and stellate cell activation. Extracellular collagen 1A stimulates FAK phosphorylation via integrin signalling (most likely α2β1) resulting in elevated levels of intracellular ROS and decreased cytoglobin expression leading to stellate cell activation. In contrast, extracellular laminin causes increases in cytoglobin expression possibly via integrin signalling resulting in a more quiescent phenotype