Regulation of the hepatocellular response to endoplasmic reticulum stress by the transcription factor c-Jun/AP-1

Accumulation of viral or misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and subsequent activation of cellular stress responses is an important step in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and metabolic liver disease. The transcription factor c-Jun/AP-1 regulates hepatocyte survival, proliferation and liver tumorigenesis, however, its functions during the ER stress response are incompletely understood and were addressed here using primary hepatocytes and livers from hepatocyte-specific c-Jun knockout mice (k.o.). ER stress was induced in vitro pharmacologically by Thapsigargin and Tunicamycin, respectively, and…