PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A-RANG LEE
AU  - SU-MIN BAEK
AU  - SEOUNG-WOO LEE
AU  - TAE-UN KIM
AU  - JEE EUN HAN
AU  - SEULGI BAE
AU  - SANG-JOON PARK
AU  - TAE-HWAN KIM
AU  - KYU-SHIK JEONG
AU  - SEONG-KYOON CHOI
AU  - JIN-KYU PARK
TI  - Nuclear VEGFR-2 Expression of Hepatocytes Is Involved in Hepatocyte Proliferation and Liver Regeneration During Chronic Liver Injury
AID  - 10.21873/invivo.12400
DP  - 2021 May 01
TA  - In Vivo
PG  - 1473--1483
VI  - 35
IP  - 3
4099  - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/3/1473.short
4100  - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/3/1473.full
SO  - In Vivo2021 May 01; 35
AB  - Background/Aim: The pathological role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) in chronic liver injury and liver regeneration is not fully understood. This study analysed the role of VEGFR-2 in liver fibrosis and its regeneration process. Materials and Methods: We administered 50 mg/kg to 300 mg/kg thioacetamide (TAA) to 9-week-old male mice intraperitoneally for 17 weeks. We measured the levels of VEGFR-2 protein and identified the location of cells that specifically express VEGFR-2. Results: VEGFR-2 is rarely expressed in normal hepatocytes. However, high VEGFR-2 expression in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells was noted in the TAA group. Conversely, the group that experienced regeneration from liver fibrosis showed significantly higher VEGFR-2 expression in the nucleus of hepatocytes compared to the other groups. Conclusion: VEGFR-2 plays a pivotal role in the nucleus of hepatocytes during liver regeneration and VEGFR-2 may be closely related to cell division. Therefore, VEGFR-2 may be a new therapeutic target for liver regeneration.