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Cholangiocytes regenerate hepatocytes during severe liver injury

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 14, page 503 (2017)Cite this article

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New mouse models of hepatocyte regeneration have identified cholangiocytes as the cellular source of regeneration in the injured adult liver, according to research published in Nature. These findings could help reveal regenerative signalling pathways in the liver and ultimately aid the development of new therapies for hepatic regeneration.

In this situation, cells are thought to emerge from bile ducts within the liver and contribute to regeneration. This process has been shown in zebrafish after hepatocyte loss, but not in mammalian models. In lineage tracing experiments with mice, ductular cells show an inconsistent and limited ability to form new hepatocytes. However, these mouse models are believed to not fully recapitulate human liver disease as they show a lack of hepatocyte senescence that leads to uninhibited liver regeneration. “We therefore set out to build a better mouse model of liver injury and regeneration that had impaired hepatocyte regeneration in response to injury, and then perform lineage tracing experiments in these mice. The question was whether the lack of regeneration from bile ducts was absolute, or due to the animal models used,” explains Forbes.

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References

  1. Raven, A. et al. Cholangiocytes act as faculative liver stem cells during impaired hepatocyte regeneration. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature23015 (2017)

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Authors
  1. Iain Dickson
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Dickson, I. Cholangiocytes regenerate hepatocytes during severe liver injury. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 14, 503 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2017.108

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2017.108

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