Advanced Glycation End-Products as Mediators of the Aberrant Crosslinking of Extracellular Matrix in Scarred Liver Tissue

Researchers used liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry to quantify the degree of crosslinking of the matrix of decellularized cirrhotic liver samples from patients and from two mouse models of liver fibrosis and show that the structure, biomechanics and degree of AGE-mediated crosslinking of the matrices can be recapitulated in collagen matrix crosslinked by advanced glycation end-products in vitro.