title: Involvement of metastasis tumor antigen 1 in hepatic regeneration and proliferation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Metastasis tumor antigen 1 (MTA1), an integral part of nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation (NuRD) complexes, is well correlated with the potential of metastasis, with the ability to regulate divergent cellular pathways by modifying the acetylation status of crucial target genes. However, additional biological functions of this molecule remain largely unexplored. This study was undertaken to explore the potential role of this molecule in mouse liver.
  
  
  METHODS
  MTA1 expression was firstly explored in mouse partial hepatectomy model (PHx). The effect of overexpression of MTA1 on hepatic proliferation and differentiation was then examined in vivo by hydrodynamic-based gene transfer method and in vitro using transformed cell line AML12 overexpressing MTA1, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consistent with the hepatic regeneration, MTA1 expression was significantly increased 24h post-PHx, with a maximum level at 48h after PHx. MTA1 immunoreactivity was generally elevated right after PHx and the staining appeared to experience a cytoplasm-to-nuclear transition. Overexpression of exogenous MTA1 could notably stimulate hepatic proliferation in vivo and could also accelerate hepatocyte differentiation in vitro.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data underscore a hepatocelluar facet of this recently defined molecule, which may represent as a novel regulator and a new therapeutic target for the treatment of impaired liver.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huaping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Haijing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xinping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ruojun
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yuanqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang