Gene expression profile at the G₁/S transition of liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in mice

Liver is a quiescent organ with >90% of the cells present in the G ₀ stage of the cell cycle. However, adult hepatocytes have enormous ability to proliferate in response to liver injury. After 70% liver resection hepatocytes enter the cell cycle in a highly synchronized manner and undergo 1 to 2 rounds of cell division to restore the lost organ mass, thus, representing one of the most reliable model systems to study cell cycle progression in vivo. Using high density oligonucleotide micro-array we analyzed the expression patterns of genes at the G₁/S transition of liver regeneration in comparison to quiescent livers. The G₁/S boundary was identified by in vivo BrdU pulse labeling and we observed 199 genes/ESTs which were either up/down regulated at this time point. These differentially regulated genes have a wide range of functions including transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, cell cycle regulation, chromatin reorganization, protein targeting, metabolism, transport, surface receptors, circadian rhythms, xenobiotic metabolism, inflammation and acute phase response. The functions of most of the genes identified in this screen are not known in the process of liver regeneration and cell cycle control at G₁/S transition.