Oh Liver, Heal Thyself

Neurobiologist Katerina Akassoglou, at the University of California, has made a breakthrough in understanding the regenerative properties of the human liver. Cirrhotic livers everywhere raise their glasses to her in appreciation.

Researchers may have identified a master switch that activates the liver’s ability to heal itself, suggesting a route to better treatments for liver diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Mice that lacked the gene showed a marked deterioration in their livers and lived shorter lives than normal mice.
Damage to the liver activates a group of specialized wound-healers called hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which churn out scaffoldlike collagen fibers that support the growth of new liver cells. “You want the cells to get activated but you don’t want them to stay activated for too long,” says neurobiologist Katerina Akassoglou of the University of California, San Diego, because the fibers begin substituting for healthy liver tissue, leading to liver failure […]

Published by Josh
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