Hepatocyte-specific NEMO deletion in mice leads to oxidative stress lethality during liver regeneration

NEMO is the regulatory subunit of the IKK complex activating the transcription factor NF-KB. Hepatocyte-specific NEMO knock-out (NEMOΔhepa) animals show a complete inhibition of NF-KB signalling in parenchymal cells leading to a severe phenotype. As NF-KB is involved in early events of hepatocyte proliferation, we studied the impact of hepatocyte-specific NEMO deletion on liver regeneration. All wt animals survived after partial hepatectomy (PH) while we observed a striking 50% lethality occurring in NEMOΔhepa mice after PH. Liver protein extracts revealed impaired priming in ko mice with low level of TNF-α and…