Inhibition of lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) expression arrests liver fibrosis progression in cirrhosis by reducing elastin crosslinking

Our previously characterized adeno-associated vector (AAV) 2/8 shRNA was shown to effectively downregulate LOXL1 expression in CCl4 induced fibrosis mice models. These resulted in delicate and thinner septa and less crosslinked elastin, with a 58% loss of elastin area and 51% decrease of collagen area. Our findings strongly suggested that elastin crosslinking and LOXL1 were co-associated with liver cirrhosis, while selective inhibition of LOXL1 arrested disease progression by reducing crosslinking of elastin.