A wealth of studies over several decades has revealed an epigenetic prepattern that determines the competence of cellular differentiation in the developing liver. More recently, studies focused on the impact of epigenetic factors during liver regeneration suggest that an epigenetic code in the quiescent liver may establish its regenerative potential. We review work on the pioneer factors and other chromatin remodelers that impact the gene expression patterns instructing hepatocyte and biliary cell specification and differentiation, along with the requirement of epigenetic regulatory factors for hepatic outgrowth. We then explore recent studies involving the role of epigenetic regulators, Arid1a and Uhrf1, in efficient activation of proregenerative genes during liver regeneration, thus highlighting the epigenetic mechanisms of liver disease and tumor development.

几十年来的大量研究表明，表观遗传的模式决定了发育中的肝细胞分化的能力。最近，针对表观遗传因素对肝脏再生的影响的研究表明，静止肝脏中的表观遗传密码可能会建立其再生潜力。我们审查了影响基因表达模式的先驱因子和其他染色质重塑剂的工作，这些基因表达模式指示了肝细胞和胆管细胞的规格和分化，以及对表皮遗传调控因子对肝脏生长的要求。然后，我们探索有关表观遗传调节因子Arid1a和Uhrf1在肝脏再生过程中有效激活前再生基因中的作用的最新研究。