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| What makes the liver regenerate |
Researchers revealed that the contact of mesenchymal cells (pink) with hepatic duct cells (yellow and blue) regulates liver regeneration
.
Image source: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics/Anna Dowbaj GroupResearchers revealed that the contact of mesenchymal cells (pink) with hepatic duct cells (yellow and blue) regulates liver regeneration
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, the Gordon Institute and the University of Cambridge found that mesenchymal cells can activate or stop liver regeneration
.
This cell realizes the function of regulating liver regeneration by establishing contact with regenerative cells (epithelial cells)
In addition, this study also shows that errors in the regeneration process may lead to cancer or chronic liver disease due to the wrong number of contacts between these two cell populations
.
Related papers were published in "Cell Stem Cells" on August 2
Approximately 2 million people worldwide die from liver disease every year
.
Currently, liver transplantation is the only way to treat liver failure
The two main functional cells of the adult liver are hepatocytes and duct cells.
The former perform many functions of the liver, and the latter form a network of tiny ducts that transport bile to the intestine
.
These cells work with other support cells, such as mesenchymal cells
This is a cell that can regulate connective tissue, and it supports the formation of the tubular structure of the bile duct
.
"We placed mesenchymal cells next to
Subsequently, the researchers contacted Florian Hollfelder of Cambridge University
.
Hollfelder established a new method to combine these cells in a tiny gel, allowing them to meet and establish connections
As a result, the researchers observed an unexpected cellular behavior: organoids contract when in contact with mesenchymal cells, and grow when there is no contact
.
They believe that this contradictory behavior can help explain why tissues proliferate or stop proliferating during regeneration
The researchers said that in a healthy liver, there is a certain amount of contact between ductal cells and mesenchymal cells, which tells ductal cells not to make more cells and keep them as they are
.
Once the tissue is damaged, the mesenchymal cells will reduce the contact with the duct cells so that they can multiply to repair the damage
.
Moreover, it is not the absolute number of the two cell types that controls the number of cells repairing damaged tissues, but the number of cell contacts
.
Excessive contact of mesenchymal cells means that fewer or no new ductal cells are produced, and vice versa
.
This regulation is very important, because when ductal cells do not receive the signal to stop self-replication at the right time, overproduction may occur, leading to cancer
.
The researchers said that although the experiment was carried out in a petri dish, the same process also occurred in a living body
.
Although research has focused on the interaction between ductal cells and mesenchymal cells in the liver, one can imagine that a similar mechanism can occur in any other system where the number of cells changes dynamically, such as lung or breast tissue
.
(Source: Tang Yichen, China Science News)
Related paper information: https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
stem.
2021.
07.
002
org/10.
1016/j.
stem.
2021.
07.
002
