Background & Aims Liver fibrosis, an important health concern associated to chronic liver
injury that provides a permissive environment for cancer development, is characterized by
accumulation of extracellular matrix components mainly derived from activated hepatic
stellate cells (HSCs). Axl, a receptor tyrosine kinase and its ligand Gas6, are involved in cell
differentiation, immune response and carcinogenesis. Methods HSCs were obtained from
WT and Axl−/− mice, treated with recombinant Gas6 protein (rGas6), Axl siRNAs or the Axl …