CFSC-8B Cells

CFSC-8B is a clonal rat hepatic stellate cell (HSC) line derived from cirrhotic liver tissue and represents one of several subclones generated from spontaneously immortalized cirrhotic fat-storing cells (CFSC). The parental CFSC population was established from hepatic stellate cells isolated from male Wistar rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced liver cirrhosis. Following repeated passaging and gradient purification, individual clones were obtained by limiting dilution, among which CFSC-8B was selected and characterized as a stable, continuously proliferating line. As summarized in the section “NFSC, CFSC and derivatives” of the review (page 709), CFSC-8B belongs to a group of cirrhosis-derived stellate cell clones that exhibit pronounced clonal heterogeneity with respect to proliferation and extracellular matrix production :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.

CFSC-8B displays a myofibroblast-like phenotype consistent with activated hepatic stellate cells. The cells are mononucleated with fusiform morphology and a cytoplasm rich in free ribosomes and abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum. They express desmin and vimentin and synthesize key extracellular matrix components including collagen types I and III, fibronectin, and laminin. Compared with stellate cell lines derived from normal liver (NFSC), cirrhosis-derived CFSC clones such as CFSC-8B contain fewer lipid droplets and exhibit a more pronounced fibrillar extracellular matrix phenotype. Functional analyses have demonstrated responsiveness to profibrogenic cytokines, including transforming growth factor-β, with induction of collagen gene expression, as well as regulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 and other matrix-associated proteins.

Due to its stable activated phenotype, robust extracellular matrix production, and cytokine responsiveness, CFSC-8B is widely used as an in vitro model of transdifferentiated hepatic stellate cells in the context of liver fibrosis. However, as discussed in the review, immortalized HSC lines including CFSC derivatives exhibit genotypic and phenotypic drift and do not fully recapitulate the dynamic quiescent-to-activated transition observed in primary stellate cells :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}. Therefore, CFSC-8B is particularly suited for mechanistic studies of fibrogenic signaling, extracellular matrix regulation, and antifibrotic interventions under conditions modeling established stellate cell activation.