The capability of the liver to fully regenerate after injury is a unique phenomenon essential for the maintenance of its important functions in the control of metabolism and xenobiotic detoxification. The regeneration process is histologically well described, but the genes that orchestrate liver regeneration have been only partially characterized. Of particular interest are cytokines and growth factors, which control different phases of liver regeneration. Historically, their potential functions in this process were addressed by analyzing their expression in the regenerating liver of rodents. Some of the predicted roles were confirmed using functional studies, including systemic delivery of recombinant growth factors, neutralizing antibodies or siRNAs prior to liver injury or during liver regeneration. In particular, the availability of genetically modified mice and their use in liver regeneration studies has unraveled novel and often unexpected functions of growth factors, cytokines and their downstream signalling targets in liver regeneration. This review summarizes the results obtained by functional studies that have addressed the roles and mechanisms of action of growth factors and cytokines in liver regeneration after acute injury to this organ.

中文翻译：

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生长因子和细胞因子对肝再生的调节

肝脏在受伤后完全再生的能力是一种独特的现象，对于维持其在控制代谢和异物解毒方面的重要功能至关重要。再生过程在组织学上得到了很好的描述，但协调肝脏再生的基因只得到了部分表征。特别令人感兴趣的是细胞因子和生长因子，它们控制着肝脏再生的不同阶段。从历史上看，它们在这个过程中的潜在功能是通过分析它们在啮齿动物再生肝脏中的表达来解决的。一些预测的作用已通过功能研究得到证实，包括在肝损伤前或肝再生期间重组生长因子、中和抗体或 siRNA 的全身性递送。特别是，转基因小鼠的可用性及其在肝再生研究中的应用揭示了生长因子、细胞因子及其下游信号靶标在肝再生中的新功能，而且这些功能通常是出乎意料的。本综述总结了功能研究获得的结果，这些研究解决了生长因子和细胞因子在该器官急性损伤后肝再生中的作用和机制。