Russell Jacquelyn O, Ko Sungjin, Monga Satdarshan P, Shin Donghun
Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
Stem Cells Int. 2019 Mar 12;2019:8451282. doi: 10.1155/2019/8451282. eCollection 2019.
Liver regeneration after most forms of injury is mediated through the proliferation of hepatocytes. However, when hepatocyte proliferation is impaired, such as during chronic liver disease, liver progenitor cells (LPCs) arising from the biliary epithelial cell (BEC) compartment can give rise to hepatocytes to mediate hepatic repair. Promotion of LPC-to-hepatocyte differentiation in patients with chronic liver disease could serve as a potentially new therapeutic option, but first requires the identification of the molecular mechanisms driving this process. Notch signaling has been identified as an important signaling pathway promoting the BEC fate during development and has also been implicated in regulating LPC differentiation during regeneration. SRY-related HMG box transcription factor 9 (Sox9) is a direct target of Notch signaling in the liver, and Sox9 has also been shown to promote the BEC fate during development. We have recently shown in a zebrafish model of LPC-driven liver regeneration that inhibition of Hdac1 activity through MS-275 treatment enhances expression in LPCs and impairs LPC-to-hepatocyte differentiation. Therefore, we hypothesized that inhibition of Notch signaling would promote LPC-to-hepatocyte differentiation by repressing expression in zebrafish. We ablated the hepatocytes of larvae and blocked Notch activation during liver regeneration through treatment with -secretase inhibitor LY411575 and demonstrated enhanced induction of Hnf4a in LPCs. Alternatively, enhancing Notch signaling via Notch3 intracellular domain (N3ICD) overexpression impaired Hnf4a induction. Hepatocyte ablation in heterozygous mutant embryos enhanced Hnf4a induction, while BEC-specific Sox9b overexpression impaired LPC-to-hepatocyte differentiation. Our results establish the Notch-Sox9b signaling axis as inhibitory to LPC-to-hepatocyte differentiation in a well-established LPC-driven liver regeneration model.
大多数形式的损伤后的肝脏再生是通过肝细胞增殖介导的。然而,当肝细胞增殖受损时,如在慢性肝病期间,源自胆管上皮细胞(BEC)区室的肝祖细胞(LPC)可产生肝细胞以介导肝脏修复。促进慢性肝病患者的LPC向肝细胞分化可能成为一种潜在的新治疗选择,但首先需要确定驱动这一过程的分子机制。Notch信号通路已被确定为在发育过程中促进BEC命运的重要信号通路,并且也与在再生过程中调节LPC分化有关。SRY相关的HMG盒转录因子9(Sox9)是肝脏中Notch信号通路的直接靶点,并且Sox9在发育过程中也已被证明可促进BEC命运。我们最近在一个LPC驱动的肝脏再生斑马鱼模型中表明,通过MS-275处理抑制Hdac1活性可增强LPC中的表达并损害LPC向肝细胞的分化。因此,我们假设抑制Notch信号通路将通过抑制斑马鱼中的表达来促进LPC向肝细胞的分化。我们切除了幼虫的肝细胞,并在肝脏再生期间通过用γ-分泌酶抑制剂LY411575处理来阻断Notch激活,并证明LPC中Hnf4a的诱导增强。或者,通过Notch3细胞内结构域(N3ICD)过表达增强Notch信号通路会损害Hnf4a的诱导。在Sox9b杂合突变胚胎中进行肝细胞消融可增强Hnf4a的诱导,而BEC特异性Sox9b过表达则会损害LPC向肝细胞的分化。我们的结果确立了Notch-Sox9b信号轴在一个成熟的LPC驱动的肝脏再生模型中对LPC向肝细胞分化具有抑制作用。