Inductive angiocrine signals from sinusoidal endothelium are required for liver regeneration (original) (raw)

Nature volume 468, pages 310–315 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

During embryogenesis, endothelial cells induce organogenesis before the development of circulation1,2,3,4. These findings suggest that endothelial cells not only form passive conduits to deliver nutrients and oxygen, but also establish an instructive vascular niche, which through elaboration of paracrine trophogens stimulates organ regeneration, in a manner similar to endothelial-cell-derived angiocrine factors that support haematopoiesis5,6,7. However, the precise mechanism by which tissue-specific subsets of endothelial cells promote organogenesis in adults is unknown. Here we demonstrate that liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) constitute a unique population of phenotypically and functionally defined VEGFR3+CD34−VEGFR2+VE-cadherin+FactorVIII+CD45− endothelial cells, which through the release of angiocrine trophogens initiate and sustain liver regeneration induced by 70% partial hepatectomy. After partial hepatectomy, residual liver vasculature remains intact without experiencing hypoxia or structural damage, which allows study of physiological liver regeneration. Using this model, we show that inducible genetic ablation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A receptor-2 (VEGFR2) in the LSECs impairs the initial burst of hepatocyte proliferation (days 1–3 after partial hepatectomy) and subsequent reconstitution of the hepatovascular mass (days 4–8 after partial hepatectomy) by inhibiting upregulation of the endothelial-cell-specific transcription factor Id1. Accordingly, _Id1_-deficient mice also manifest defects throughout liver regeneration, owing to diminished expression of LSEC-derived angiocrine factors, including hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Wnt2. Notably, in in vitro co-cultures, VEGFR2-Id1 activation in LSECs stimulates hepatocyte proliferation. Indeed, intrasplenic transplantation of Id1+/+ or _Id1_−/− LSECs transduced with Wnt2 and HGF (Id1_−/−_Wnt2+HGF+ LSECs) re-establishes an inductive vascular niche in the liver sinusoids of the _Id1_−/− mice, initiating and restoring hepatovascular regeneration. Therefore, in the early phases of physiological liver regeneration, VEGFR2-Id1-mediated inductive angiogenesis in LSECs through release of angiocrine factors Wnt2 and HGF provokes hepatic proliferation. Subsequently, VEGFR2-Id1-dependent proliferative angiogenesis reconstitutes liver mass. Therapeutic co-transplantation of inductive VEGFR2+Id1+Wnt2+HGF+ LSECs with hepatocytes provides an effective strategy to achieve durable liver regeneration.

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Gene Expression Omnibus

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The microarray data are deposited at Gene Expression Omnibus under accession number GSE22879.

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Acknowledgements

S.R. is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Ansary Stem Cell Institute, National Institutes of Health grants HL097797, U01 HL-66592-03 and RC1 AI080309, the Qatar National Priorities Research Program, the Anbinder and Newmans Own Foundations, the Empire State Stem Cell Board and a New York State Department of Health grant, NYS C024180. T.N.S is supported by MEXT (Kiban-S), the Takeda Science Foundation and the Uehara Memorial Life Science Foundation. We are grateful to N. K. Hong for advice on mouse surgical procedure and F. Roth for editing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. and Department of Genetic Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ansary Stem Cell Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, 10065, New York, USA
    Bi-Sen Ding, Daniel J. Nolan, Jason M. Butler, Daylon James, Alexander O. Babazadeh, Hideki Kobayashi, Koji Shido, Sina Y. Rabbany & Shahin Rafii
  2. Ronald O. Perelman and Claudia Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine, New York, 10065, New York, USA
    Zev Rosenwaks
  3. Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, 10065, New York, USA
    Vivek Mittal
  4. Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, 10065, New York, USA
    David Lyden
  5. Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Ikoma, Nara, Japan ,
    Thomas N. Sato
  6. Bioengineering Program, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York 11549, USA ,
    Sina Y. Rabbany

Authors

  1. Bi-Sen Ding
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  2. Daniel J. Nolan
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  3. Jason M. Butler
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  4. Daylon James
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  5. Alexander O. Babazadeh
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  6. Zev Rosenwaks
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  7. Vivek Mittal
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  8. Hideki Kobayashi
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  9. Koji Shido
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  10. David Lyden
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  11. Thomas N. Sato
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  12. Sina Y. Rabbany
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  13. Shahin Rafii
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Contributions

B.-S.D., S.Y.R. and S.R. conceived and designed the project, B.-S.D., D.J.N., J.M.B., D.J., A.O.B. and H.K. performed experiments, T.N.S. generated conditional VEGFR2 knockout mouse line and all authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and preparation of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence toShahin Rafii.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ding, BS., Nolan, D., Butler, J. et al. Inductive angiocrine signals from sinusoidal endothelium are required for liver regeneration.Nature 468, 310–315 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09493

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Editorial Summary

Liver regeneration signals

There is growing evidence to suggest that endothelial cells are not simply passive conduits for delivering oxygen and nutrients. During embryogenesis, for instance, they induce organogenesis before the circulation has developed. Experiments in a 70% partial hepatectomy liver regeneration model in mice now reveal a molecular pathway by which endothelial cells can sustain liver regeneration after surgical resection. VEGFR2 activation in a defined subpopulation of liver endothelial cells leads to the upregulation of the endothelial-specific transcription factor Id1, which in turn induces the secretion of Wnt2 and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which trigger hepatocyte proliferation. This suggests that vascular niche-derived inductive signals that promote liver regeneration could be utilized to initiate and accelerate liver recovery after these surgical procedures.