Fiche publication
Date publication
avril 2001
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr CHAMBON Pierre
,
Dr KASTNER Philippe
,
Dr METZGER Daniel
Tous les auteurs :
Imai T, Jiang M, Kastner P, Chambon P, Metzger D
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
Retinoid X receptors (RXRs) are involved in a number of signaling pathways as heterodimeric partners of numerous nuclear receptors. Hepatocytes express high levels of the RXRalpha isotype, as well as several of its putative heterodimeric partners. Germ-line disruption (knockout) of RXRalpha has been shown to be lethal in utero, thus precluding analysis of its function at later life stages. Hepatocyte-specific disruption of RXRalpha during liver organogenesis has recently revealed that the presence of hepatocytes is not mandatory for the mouse, at least under normal mouse facility conditions, even though a number of metabolic events are impaired [Wan, Y.-J., et al. (2000) Mol. Cell. Biol. 20, 4436-4444]. However, it is unknown whether RXRalpha plays a role in the control of hepatocyte proliferation and lifespan. Here, we report a detailed analysis of the liver of mice in which RXRalpha was selectively ablated in adult hepatocytes by using the tamoxifen-inducible chimeric Cre recombinase system. Our results show that the lifespan of adult hepatocytes lacking RXRalpha is shorter than that of their wild-type counterparts, whereas proliferative hepatocytes of regenerating liver exhibit an even shorter lifespan. These lifespan shortenings are accompanied by increased polyploidy and multinuclearity. We conclude that RXRalpha plays important cell-autonomous function(s) in the mechanism(s) involved in the lifespan of hepatocytes and liver regeneration.
Mots clés
Animals, Cell Aging, Hepatectomy, Hepatocytes, cytology, Liver Regeneration, Mice, Mice, Knockout, Receptors, Retinoic Acid, genetics, Retinoid X Receptors, Transcription Factors, genetics
Référence
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.. 2001 Apr;98(8):4581-6
