ABSTRACT
Liver fibrosis is the intermediate process in the progression of various chronic liver diseases to liver cirrhosis, and its serious complications affect the prognosis of patients with chronic liver diseases. However, so far, there remain no effective drugs for the treatment of liver fibrosis. This article investigates the development and progression of liver fibrosis from the aspects of signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms and briefly introduces the latest research advances in the roles of signaling pathways, including transforming growth factor-β/Smad pathway, platelet-derived growth factor pathway, leptin signaling pathway, and connective tissue growth factor pathway, chemokines, neuroendocrine factors, and angiogenesis in the development of liver fibrosis, so as to enhance the knowledge of the development of liver fibrosis and provide a theoretical basis for the research on molecular-targeted drugs based on the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis.