title: Nrf2 is involved in maintaining hepatocyte identity during liver regeneration.
abstract: Nrf2, a central regulator of the cellular defense against oxidative stress and inflammation, participates in modulating hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration. It is not clear, however, whether Nrf2 regulates hepatocyte growth, an important cellular mechanism to regain the lost liver mass after partial hepatectomy (PH). To determine this, various analyses were performed in wild-type and Nrf2-null mice following PH. We found that, at 60 h post-PH, the vast majority of hepatocytes lacking Nrf2 reduced their sizes, activated hepatic progenitor markers (CD133, TWEAK receptor, and trefoil factor family 3), depleted HNF4α protein, and downregulated the expression of a group of genes critical for their functions. Thus, the identity of hepatocytes deficient in Nrf2 was transiently but massively impaired in response to liver mass loss. This event was associated with the coupling of protein depletion of hepatic HNF4α, a master regulator of hepatocyte differentiation, and concomitant inactivation of hepatic Akt1 and p70S6K, critical hepatocyte growth signaling molecules. We conclude that Nrf2 participates in maintaining newly regenerated hepatocytes in a fully differentiated state by ensuring proper regulation of HNF4α, Akt1, and p70S6K during liver regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joonyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shashank Manohar
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Nambiar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rui
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jefferson Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, School of Science, Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
authors.forename: Guoli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D051267:NF-E2-Related Factor 2; C495636:Nfe2l2 protein, mouse