Hyper-Interleukin-6 dependent changes in normal and regenerating mouse livers

Although IL-6 is well characterized in the process of liver regeneration, the function of naturally occurring sIL-6R in combination with IL-6 remains to be specified. To address this, we developed a conditional and liver specific mouse model expressing Hyper-IL-6 (HIL-6) protein (sIL-6R covalently linked to IL-6) to study its influence in vitro as well as in healthy and regenerating mouse livers. Results: Under healthy conditions HIL-6 mice developed a prominent hepatomegaly, the appearance of progenitor markers like CD133, Wilms Tumor Protein 1, A6, Wide Spectrum Cytokeratin and Muscle Pyruvate Kinase as well a…