생화학분자생물학회

	Donghun Shin (donghuns@pitt.edu)
	2016-present	Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA
	2010-2016	Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA
	2005-2010	Postdoctoral Associate, University of California, San Francisco, USA
	1998-2005	Ph.D. Student, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
	1995-1997	M.S. Student, Department of Molecular Biology, Seoul National University, South Korea
	1989-1995	Undergraduate Student, Department of Molecular Biology, Seoul National University, South Korea

Liver progenitor cell-driven liver regeneration

The liver is a highly regenerative organ, but its regenerative capacity is compromised in severe liver diseases. Hepatocyte-driven liver regeneration that involves the proliferation of preexisting hepatocytes is a primary regeneration mode. On the other hand, liver progenitor cell (LPC)-driven liver regeneration that involves dedifferentiation of biliary epithelial cells or hepatocytes into LPCs, LPC proliferation, and subsequent differentiation of LPCs into hepatocytes is a secondary mode. This secondary mode plays a significant role in liver regeneration when the primary mode does not effectively work, as observed in severe liver injury settings. Thus, promoting LPC-driven liver regeneration may be clinically beneficial to patients with severe liver diseases. In this review, we describe the current understanding of LPC-driven liver regeneration by exploring current knowledge on the activation, origin, and roles of LPCs during regeneration. We also describe animal models used to study LPC-driven liver regeneration, given their potential to further deepen our understanding of the regeneration process. This understanding will eventually contribute to developing strategies to promote LPC-driven liver regeneration in patients with severe liver diseases.

Exp Mol Med. 2020 Aug;52(8):1230-1238. doi: 10.1038/s12276-020-0483-0.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32796957/