PUBLICATION

Cholangiocytes contribute to hepatocyte regeneration after partial liver injury during growth spurt in zebrafish

Authors
Eski, S.E., Mi, J., Pozo-Morales, M., Hovhannisyan, G.G., Perazzolo, C., Manco, R., Ez-Zammoury, I., Barbhaya, D., Lefort, A., Libert, F., Marini, F., Gurzov, E.N., Andersson, O., Singh, S.P.
ID
ZDB-PUB-250608-5
Date
2025
Source
Nature communications   16: 52605260 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Eski, Sema Elif, Perazzolo, Camille, Pozo‐Morales, Macarena, Singh, Sumeet Pal
Keywords
none
Datasets
GEO:GSE272484
MeSH Terms
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
  • Liver*/cytology
  • Liver*/injuries
  • Liver*/metabolism
  • Animals
  • Hepatectomy
  • Epithelial Cells*/cytology
  • Epithelial Cells*/metabolism
  • Cell Transdifferentiation
  • Single-Cell Analysis
  • Hepatocytes*/cytology
  • Hepatocytes*/metabolism
  • Hepatocytes*/physiology
  • Liver Regeneration*/physiology
  • Bile Ducts/cytology
  • Zebrafish*/growth & development
  • Signal Transduction
  • Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1/metabolism
PubMed
40480975 Full text @ Nat. Commun.
Abstract
The liver's regenerative ability depends on injury extent. Minor injuries are repaired by hepatocyte self-duplication, while severe damage triggers cholangiocyte involvement in hepatocyte recovery. This paradigm is well-documented for adult animals but is less explored during rapid growth. We design two partial liver injury models in zebrafish, which were investigated during growth spurts: 1) partial ablation, killing half the hepatocytes; and 2) partial hepatectomy, removing half a liver lobe. In both injuries, de novo hepatocytes emerged alongside existing ones. Single-cell transcriptomics and lineage tracing with Cre-driver lines generated by genome editing identified cholangiocytes as the source of de novo hepatocytes. We further identify active mTORC1 signalling in the uninjured liver of growing animal to be a regulator of the enhanced plasticity of cholangiocytes. Our study suggests cholangiocyte-to-hepatocyte transdifferentiation as the primary mechanism of liver regeneration during periods of rapid growth.
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