Partial hepatectomy induces delayed hepatocyte proliferation and normal liver regeneration in ovariectomized mice

Abstract

Estrogens play central roles in sexual development, reproduction, and hepatocyte proliferation. The ovaries are one of the main organs for estradiol (E2) production. Ovariectomies (OVXs) were performed on the female mice, and hepatocyte proliferation was analyzed. The ovariectomized mice exhibited delayed hepatocyte proliferation after partial hepatectomy (PH) and also exhibited delayed and reduced E2 induction. Both E2 administration and PH induced the gene expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα). The transcripts of ERα were detected specifically in periportal hepatocytes after E2 administration and PH. Moreover, the E2 concentrations and hepatocyte proliferation rates were highest in the proestrus period of the estrous cycle. Taken together, these findings indicate that E2 accelerated ERα expression in periportal hepatocytes and hepatocyte proliferation in the female mice.

Keywords:

• estrogen
• ER
• estrous cycle
• hepatocyte proliferation
• liver regeneration

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our department members in the NCGG for helpful discussions. This work was supported by a grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and a grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) to TI. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.