Overexpression of Pitx2 induces morphological changes in Adult Liver Derived Progenitor Cells (ALDPC)

Recently, we could show that a subset of developmentally regulated fetal liver genes are also expressed during adult liver regeneration. One of these genes, Pitx2, was found to be strongly expressed in the early fetal liver at embryonic Day 9.5 p.c. as well as in a 2/3 hepatectomy model 24 hrs after resection. In the embryo, the Wnt signal pathway is important for the development of the organism, recently, there are also hints that this pathway plays a role in liver regeneration. Pitx2 is one of the genes regulated by Wnt signalling and recent hints indicate a role of this pathway also in liver regeneration. Via…