Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Regenerative biology

Maintaining liver mass

Nature volume 524, pages 165–166 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

A previously under-appreciated subset of liver cells has been found to contribute to the day-to-day maintenance of liver mass in mice. The cells are induced and supported by signals from an adjacent vein. See Article p.180

The liver has remarkable regenerative powers. Many studies have focused on the ability of different types of cell to replenish both the liver and the bile ducts after damage1, but less clear is how the liver self-renews when cells die naturally. Such homeostatic renewal ensures that the liver maintains an appropriate mass, and so is crucial for health. On page 180 of this issue, Wang et al.2 shed light on this issue, focusing on an under-appreciated, self-renewing cell population in the undamaged livers of mice. It seems that liver cells themselves might function as 'stem cells' for homeostasis when they are positioned in a specialized zone of the liver.

Your institute does not have access to this article

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: A contributor to everyday liver regeneration.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Miyajima, A., Tanaka, M. & Itoh, T. Cell Stem Cell 14, 561–574 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wang, B., Zhao, L., Fish, M., Logan, C. Y. & Nusse, R. Nature 524, 180–185 (2015).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Malato, Y. J. Clin. Invest. 121, 4850–4860 (2011).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Tarlow, B. D. et al. Cell Stem Cell 15, 605–618 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Yanger, K. et al. Cell Stem Cell 15, 340–349 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Magami, Y. et al. Liver 22, 419–425 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Benhamouche, S. et al. Dev. Cell 10, 759–770 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Yang, J. et al. Hepatology 60, 964–976 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rompolas, P., Mesa, K. R. & Greco, V. Nature 502, 513–518 (2013).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Sheng, X. R., Brawley, C. M. & Matunis, E. L. Cell Stem Cell 5, 191–203 (2009).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Duncan, A. W. et al. Nature 467, 707–710 (2010).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Huch, M. et al. Nature 494, 247–250 (2013).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Suzuki, A., Sekiya, S., Büscher, D., Izpisúa Belmonte, J. C. & Taniguchi, H. Development 135, 1589–1595 (2008).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Matsumoto, K., Yoshitomi, H., Rossant, J. & Zaret, K. S. Science 294, 559–563 (2001).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kenneth S. Zaret is at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.,

    Kenneth S. Zaret

Authors
  1. Kenneth S. Zaret
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth S. Zaret.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zaret, K. Maintaining liver mass. Nature 524, 165–166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15201

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15201

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing