Distributed hepatocytes expressing telomerase repopulate the liver in homeostasis and injury.

ABSTRACT: Hepatocytes are replenished gradually during homeostasis and robustly after liver injury^{1, 2}. In adults, new hepatocytes originate from the existing hepatocyte pool^3-8, but the cellular source of renewing hepatocytes remains unclear. Telomerase is expressed in many stem cell populations, and mutations in telomerase pathway genes have been linked to liver diseases^9-11. Here we identify a subset of hepatocytes that expresses high levels of telomerase and show that this hepatocyte subset repopulates the liver during homeostasis and injury. Using lineage tracing from the telomerase reverse transcriptase (Tert) locus in mice, we demonstrate that rare hepatocytes with high telomerase expression (TERT^High hepatocytes) are distributed throughout the live

SUBMITTER: Lin S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5895494 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature