Multiple Facets of Cellular Homeostasis and Regeneration of the Mammalian Liver

Abstract

Liver regeneration occurs in response to diverse injuries and is capable of functionally reestablishing the lost parenchyma. This phenomenon has been known since antiquity, encapsulated in the Greek myth where Prometheus was to be punished by Zeus for sharing the gift of fire with humanity by having an eagle eat his liver daily, only to have the liver regrow back, thus ensuring eternal suffering and punishment. Today, this process is actively leveraged clinically during living donor liver transplantation whereby up to a two-thirds hepatectomy (resection or removal of part of the liver) on a donor is used for transplant to a recipient. The donor liver rapidly regenerates to recover the lost parenchymal mass to form a functional tissue. This astonishing regenerative process and unique capacity of the liver are examined in further detail in this review.