Department of Surgery and Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol. 2013 Nov;37(5):447-54. doi: 10.1016/j.clinre.2013.05.008. Epub 2013 Jun 24.
Notch signalling is an evolutionarily conserved intercellular pathway involved in many aspects of development and tissue renewal in several organs. The importance of Notch signalling in liver development and morphogenesis is well established. However, the post-natal role of Notch in liver repair/regeneration is only now beginning to be unveiled. Despite the simplicity of the pathway activation, a fine spatial-temporal regulation of Notch signalling is required to avoid pathologic effects. This review highlights recent advances in the field indicating that Notch signalling is involved in the reparative morphogenesis of the biliary tree and in liver carcinogenesis. Defective Notch signalling leads to impaired ability of the liver to repair liver damage, while excessive activation may be involved in liver cancer. Even though much remains to be understood about these mechanisms, including the cross-talk between Notch signalling and other liver morphogens, current evidence suggests that the modulation of the Notch pathway may represent a therapeutic target in chronic liver disease.
Notch 信号通路是一种进化上保守的细胞间途径，参与多个器官的发育和组织更新的多个方面。 Notch 信号通路在肝脏发育和形态发生中的重要性已得到充分证实。然而， Notch 在肝修复/再生中的产后作用才刚刚开始被揭示。尽管途径激活很简单，但需要精细的时空调节 Notch 信号通路以避免病理效应。这篇综述强调了该领域的最新进展，表明 Notch 信号通路参与胆管的修复性形态发生和肝癌的发生。 Notch 信号通路的缺陷导致肝脏修复肝损伤的能力受损，而过度激活可能与肝癌有关。尽管这些机制仍有许多需要了解，包括 Notch 信号通路与其他肝脏形态发生因子之间的串扰，但目前的证据表明， Notch 途径的调节可能代表慢性肝病的治疗靶点。
