MAPK8 and Hepatic fibrosis: Taken together, our results have demonstrated that HMGB1 promotes the proliferation and migration of HSCs via TLR4-dependent signal pathways of JNK and PI3K/Akt, which indicates a significant functional role of HMGB1 in the development of liver fibrosis and HMGB1 may be an effective target to treat liver fibrosis.