Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to cover the wide spectrum of the heterogeneous, highly specialized, and sometimes contradictory roles of liver-resident and -infiltrating myeloid cells in the highly complex field of chronic liver diseases, liver inflammation and liver cancer.

Liver resident phagocytes, mainly Kupffer cells, and infiltrating bone-marrow-derived cells give rise to a vast continuum of myeloid cell phenotypes with specialized functions in tissue homeostasis, and are also critically involved in the development and progression of tissue injury driven by inflammation. Furthermore, in the regression of tissue damage, they guide the process of tissue regeneration and angiogenesis, leading to productive or defective wound healing, leading to tissue reconstitution or fibrosis.

Hence, recent studies have highlighted the very complex landscape of “liver macrophages” in a variety of liver conditions, including chronic liver diseases regarded as the soil for liver cirrhosis and cancer (e.g. non-alcoholic steatohepatitis). In addition, the functional aspects of tumor infiltrating myeloid cells leading to alterations in cell proliferation, cell cycle checkpoint surveillance and cellular senescence require further clarification. Finally, the implications of myeloid cells seem to be prominent in cancer immune therapy, which is currently one of the most promising approaches in targeting advanced stages of organ cancer.

Altogether, it is necessary to decipher the macrophage toolbox beyond the generally accepted M1 versus M2 paradigm. Future studies must help clinical and research communities gain further insights into the myeloid-cell related mechanisms leading to the establishment of chronic liver disease, and ultimately, to the initiation and progression of liver cancer.

Dr. Felix Heymann
Dr. Adrien Guillot
Guest Editors

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• myeloid cells
• monocytes
• macrophages
• macrophage phenotypes
• T cells
• dendritic cells
• liver cancer
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• cholangiocarcinoma