Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Regulation, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China.
J Cell Biochem. 2012 Jan;113(1):229-37. doi: 10.1002/jcb.23348.
Liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy is a process with various types of cells involved. The role of Kupffer cells (KCs) in liver regeneration is still controversial. In this study we isolated KCs from regenerating liver and conducted cell-specific microarray analysis. The results demonstrated that the controversial role of KCs in liver regeneration could be explained with the expression patterns of TGF-α, IL-6, TNF, and possibly IL-18 during liver regeneration. IL-18 may play an important role in negative regulation of liver regeneration. The functional profiles of gene expression in KCs also indicated that KC signaling might play a negative role in cell proliferation: signaling genes were down regulated before cell division. Immune response genes in KCs were also down regulated during liver regeneration, demonstrating similar expression profiles to that of hepatocytes. The expression patterns of key genes in these functional categories were consistent with the temporal functional profiles.
肝部分切除术后的肝脏再生是一个涉及多种类型细胞的过程。库普弗细胞（KCs）在肝脏再生中的作用仍存在争议。在这项研究中，我们从再生的肝脏中分离出 KCs，并进行了细胞特异性的微阵列分析。结果表明，KCs 在肝脏再生中的有争议的作用可以通过 TGF-α、IL-6、TNF 以及可能的 IL-18 在肝脏再生过程中的表达模式来解释。IL-18 可能在肝脏再生的负调控中发挥重要作用。KCs 中基因表达的功能谱也表明 KC 信号可能在细胞增殖中起负作用：信号基因在细胞分裂前下调。在肝脏再生过程中，KCs 中的免疫反应基因也下调，表现出与肝细胞相似的表达谱。这些功能类别的关键基因的表达模式与时间功能谱一致。
