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Liver fibrosis poses a significant global health risk due to its association with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the lack of effective treatments. Thus, the need to discover additional novel therapeutic targets to attenuate liver diseases is urgent. Leucine-rich repeat containing 1 (LRRC1) reportedly promotes HCC development. Previously, we found that LRRC1 was significantly upregulated in rat fibrotic liver according to the transcriptome sequencing data. Herein, in the current work, we aimed to explore the role of LRRC1 in liver fibrosis and the underlying mechanisms involved. LRRC1 expression was positively correlated with liver fibrosis severity and significantly elevated in both human and murine fibrotic liver tissues. LRRC1 knockdown or overexpression inhibited or enhanced the proliferation, migration, and expression of fibrogenic genes in the human hepatic stellate cell line LX-2. More importantly, LRRC1 inhibition in vivo significantly alleviated CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by reducing collagen accumulation and hepatic stellate cells’ (HSCs) activation in mice. Mechanistically, LRRC1 promoted HSC activation and liver fibrogenesis by preventing the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of phosphorylated mothers against decapentaplegic homolog (Smad) 2/3 (p-Smad2/3), thereby activating the TGF-β1/Smad pathway. Collectively, these results clarify a novel role for LRRC1 as a regulator of liver fibrosis and indicate that LRRC1 is a promising target for antifibrotic therapies.

Research on language learning motivations has been extensive. However, research on learners’ motivations for learning Chinese has been underexplored compared to that for learning English. The current study aimed to investigate the motivations among 256 Turkish learners of Chinese as foreign language (CFL) who studied at five universities in Turkey. Participants completed an adapted questionnaire based on Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). A series of statistical analysis revealed three major findings. First, integrativeness, attitudes towards learning situation and attitudes towards learning Chinese were identified as the three most important motivational variables, followed by instrumentality, and parental encouragement. Language anxiety and passive motivation seemed to play a weaker role in Turkish CFL learners’ motivations for learning Chinese at the tertiary level. Second, the results also show that females exhibited higher motivation to learn the target language compared to their male peers. Third, the choice of major among CFL learners appeared to influence their language learning motivations, with a notable distinction between Chinese majors and non-Chinese majors in five motivational variables: integrativeness attitudes towards the learning situation, language anxiety, parental encouragement, and passive motivation.