CAR activation promotes liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in mice.
To explore whether CAR activation can promote liver regeneration, a 2/3 hepatectomy model was used and treated with TCPOBOP (Figure 2A). A significant increase of liver size and liver/body weight ratio were observed in TCPOBOP treated group (Figure 2B and 2C).
H&E staining revealed no liver injury occurred (Figure 2D). Serum ALT, AST, TBLI and TBA didn’t changed significantly after TCPOBOP treatment, indicating normal liver function (Figure S2A). CTNNB1 and KI67 staining were also performed. Hepatocytes around the CV area showed a dramatic enlargement (Figure 2E, quantification shown in Figure 2F) which was absent around the PV area (Figure S2B). The number of KI67+ cells were apparently increased around the PV area after treatment with TCPOBOP (Figure 2G and 2H) while there was no expression around the CV area (Figure S2C). These data suggest that CAR activation promotes hepatocyte enlargement around the CV area and proliferation around the PV area, which further facilitates liver regeneration.