Fig. 5: MYDGF stimulates proliferation of hepatocytes in the mouse liver after partial hepatectomy.

a Anatomy of the mouse liver. b Schematic illustration of the experimental setup to determine myeloid-derived growth factor (MYDGF) expression kinetics and the effect of a global MYDGF knockout (KO) on hepatocyte proliferation after partial hepatectomy (PHx). c MYDGF protein levels in the right liver lobe relative to the respective left liver lobe of the same mouse, normalized to GAPDH protein levels; n = 5 (0 and 3 h), n = 4 (6 and 12 h) and n = 3 mice (24 h). d MYDGF protein levels in lysates of isolated mouse hepatic endothelial cells (ECs) from the right liver lobe; n = 5 (0 and 3 h), n = 4 (6 and 12 h) and n = 3 mice (24 h). Laser scanning microscopy (LSM) images of the right liver lobes of control (e) and MYDGF KO (f) mice. Phospho-Histone H3 (PH3, green, shown in inset), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, red), and DAPI (blue). g PH3⁺ (ICAM-1⁻) cells normalized to DAPI⁺ cells in control versus MYDGF KO mice, shown as percentage of control. n = 8 control versus n = 5 MYDGF KO transversal sections of the right liver lobe. h An adeno-associated-virus of serotype 8 (AAV8) driving under the control of a thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) promoter, green fluorescent protein (GFP) or MYDGF, was injected into the tail vein of mice. Seven days post injection, a PHx was performed, and the livers were isolated another 30 h later. i, j LSM images of right mouse liver lobes. PH3 (green, shown in inset), ICAM-1 (red) and DAPI (blue). k PH3⁺ (ICAM-1⁻) cells normalized to DAPI⁺ cells in AAV8-TBG-GFP versus AAV8-TBG-MYDGF mice, shown as percentage of AAV8-TBG-GFP. n = 6 AAV8-TBG-GFP versus n = 5 AAV8-TBG-MYDGF transversal sections of the right liver lobe. Scale bars: 50 µm (f, j). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. P values were calculated using one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s post hoc test (c, d), and two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test with Welch’s correction (g, k). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.