This bending triggers stress-induced Ca2+, cAMP

signaling cascades, and receptor-mediated PDGRα and Hedgehog signaling, which makes bile a mechanical probe for liver homeostatic control.42 Two distinct forms of liver regeneration take place after: (1) partial hepatectomy, and (2) selective loss of pericentral cells. After partial hepatectomy, feedback loop signaling is essentially intact. DNA synthesis occurs in cells across the liver plates but only a portion of the cells undergo cytokinesis, yielding increased numbers of polyploid cells, higher numbers of apoptotic cells, and more rapid turnover of the liver with restoration of the normal ploidy profiles within weeks.60 Feedback loop signaling is the explanation for liver cells in culture in which secreted signals MK-8669 molecular weight from late lineage stage cells inhibit selleck chemical the growth of any early lineage stage cells.20 Selective loss of pericentral cells with toxic injury to zone 3 cells (and sometimes also to zone 2) results in muting of the feedback loop signaling that activates rapid cell division of early lineage stage cells.12, 61 In response, periportal cells undergo rapid hyperplastic growth (complete cell division) followed by differentiation. These phenomena, the classic

“oval cell response” in rodents and the “ductular reactions” seen in humans in massive hepatic necrosis (e.g., acetaminophen toxicity, acute hepatotropic viral infection), have long been recognized

to involve extensive expansion of the stem/progenitor cell populations.12 Chronic injury to the liver, as occurs with repeated drug exposures, radiation, or certain viral infections like hepatitis Tenoxicam B or C, result in loss of late lineage stage cells, eliciting chronic regenerative responses that can lead to oncogenesis. Hepatic lineage biology and mechanisms of its regulation will have relevance for many clinical programs. Examples include tissue sourcing for clinical programs, strategies for liver cell therapies, immunological issues, and, most profoundly, an understanding of liver tumors and logical strategies by which to treat liver cancers. Sourcing of tissue for any clinical therapy is dictated by the proportion of cells at the different lineage stages in tissue of a given donor age. Fetal and neonatal tissues with lineages skewed towards early stages will be ideal for stem/progenitor cell therapies, whereas adult livers will be ideal for programs requiring rapid need for late lineage stage functions. Liver cell therapies for inborn errors of metabolism will be affected by feedback loop signaling, because there will be no selection for the transplanted cells over endogenous cells, necessitating higher numbers of cells to be transplanted.