Polyploidy in Liver Regeneration and Adaptation to Chronic Injury
Authors: Wilkinson Patrick D. , Delgado Evan R. , Alencastro Frances , Leek Madeleine P. , Roy Nairita , Weirich Matthew P. , Stahl Elizabeth C. , Otero P. Anthony , Chen Maelee I. , Brown Whitney K. , Oertel Michael , Duncan Andrew W. 
Published: June 2021

The liver contains diploid and polyploid hepatocytes (tetraploid, octaploid, etc.), with polyploids comprising ≥90% of the hepatocyte population in adult mice. The molecular mechanisms that regulate polyploidization have been well‐characterized; however, it is unclear if diploid and polyploid hepatocytes function similarly in multiple contexts. Moreover, polyploid hepatocytes form multipolar spindles in mitosis, which lead to chromosome gains and/or losses and random aneuploidy. The effect of aneuploidy on liver function is also unknown and the degree of liver aneuploidy is debated, with reports showing aneuploidy affects 5–60% of hepatocytes. To study the function of polyploidy and aneuploidy in the liver, we used mice lacking E2f7 and E2f8 in the liver (LKO), which have a polyploidization defect. Here, we found diploid hepatocytes were enriched 20‐fold in LKO livers, and LKO hepatocytes remained predominantly diploid following extensive proliferation. Moreover, cytogenetic analysis showed that nearly all LKO hepatocytes were euploid compared to control hepatocytes, which were mostly aneuploid, suggesting polyploid hepatocytes are required for production of aneuploid progeny. Livers from LKO mice maintained normal function but became highly tumorigenic when challenged with tumor‐promoting stimuli, suggesting that tumors in LKO mice were driven, at least in part, by diploid hepatocytes capable of rapid proliferation. Indeed, hepatocytes from LKO mice were more proliferative and out‐competed control hepatocytes in competitive repopulation studies. To eliminate potentially confounding effects associated with E2f7/E2f8 deficiency, diploid and polyploid hepatocytes from wild‐type mice were examined. The wild‐type diploid cells also showed a proliferative advantage, entering and progressing through the cell cycle faster than polyploid cells, both in vitro and during liver regeneration. Finally, to investigate the role of diploids and polyploids in chronic injury we bred LKO mice, deficient in polyploidy and aneuploidy, onto a tyrosinemia background, a disease model where the liver can develop disease‐resistant, regenerative nodules. Survival was significantly reduced in tyrosinemic LKO mice, compared to controls, but they maintained the ability to form regenerative nodules. Molecular analyses revealed that the nodules in the tyrosinemic livers were generated via aneuploidy and inactivating mutations. In summary we identified diverse, context‐specific roles for diploids and polyploids in liver function, demonstrating diploid hepatocytes are the most proliferative and have the highest capacity for liver regeneration, and polyploid hepatocytes are required for the formation of aneuploid progeny and facilitate adaptation to chronic liver disease.

Support or Funding Information

Grants awarded to Dr. Duncan from the NIH (R01 DK103645) and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.