| Title | Expression of specific hepatocyte and cholangiocyte transcription factors in human liver disease and embryonic development. | | Author(s) | Limaye PB, Alarcón G, Walls AL, Nalesnik MA, Michalopoulos GK, Demetris AJ, Ochoa ER | | Institution | 1Department of Pathology, Division of Transplantation Pathology, Montefiore University Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. | | Source | Lab Invest 2008 Jun 23. | | Abstract | Transcription factors are major determinants of cell-specific gene expression in all cell types. Studies in rodent liver have shown that alterations in transcription factor expression determine lineage specification during fetal liver development and signify transdifferentiation of cells of the biliary compartment into 'oval' cells and eventually hepatocytes in adult liver. We examined the cellular localization of hepatocyte- or BEC-associated transcription factors in human fetal and adult liver and in diseases in which transdifferentiation between hepatocytes and biliary cells may play a role. In the normal adult human liver, hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)4alpha and HNF6 appeared exclusively in hepatocytes; HNF1beta, HNF3alpha, and HNF3beta were observed only in BEC. During fetal development both BEC and hepatocytes expressed HNF3alpha, HNF3beta, and HNF6. HNF1alpha was expressed only in fetal hepatocytes. We further examined expression of transcription factors in massive hepatic necrosis and in specific types of chronic liver disease. Hepatocyte-associated transcription factors HNF4alpha and HNF6 also appeared in BEC in massive hepatic necrosis and chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Similarly, HNF3beta that is expressed only in BEC in normal adult liver was also observed in hepatocytes in primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic biliary obstruction. These data mimic previous findings in rodents in which hepatocyte-associated transcription factors appear in biliary cells prior to emergence of oval cells, which function as progenitor cells for hepatocytes when the regenerative capacity of the latter is compromised.Laboratory Investigation advance online publication, 23 June 2008; doi:10.1038/labinvest.2008.56. | | Language | ENG | | Pub Type(s) | JOURNAL ARTICLE
| | PubMed ID | 18574450 |
|
