Liver cholestasis is a chronic liver disease and a major health problem worldwide. Cholestasis is characterised by a decrease in bile flow due to impaired secretion by hepatocytes or by obstruction of bile flow through intra- or extrahepatic bile ducts. Thereby cholestasis can induce ductal proliferation, hepatocyte injury and liver fibrosis. Notch signalling promotes the formation and maturation of bile duct structures. Here we investigated the liver regeneration process in the context of cholestasis induced by disruption of the Notch signalling pathway. Liver-specific deletion of recombination signal binding protein for immunoglobulin kappa j region (Rbpj), which represents a key regulator of Notch signalling, induces severe cholestasis through impaired intra-hepatic bile duct (IHBD) maturation, severe necrosis and increased lethality. Deregulation of the biliary compartment and cholestasis are associated with the change of several signalling pathways including a Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) gene set representing the Hippo pathway, further yes-associated protein (YAP) activation and upregulation of SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 9 (SOX9), which is associated with transdifferentiation of hepatocytes. SOX9 upregulation in cholestatic liver injury in vitro is independent of Notch signalling. We could comprehensively address that in vivo Rbpj depletion is followed by YAP activation, which influences the transdifferentiation of hepatocytes and thereby contributing to liver regeneration.
Keywords: Hippo signalling pathway; Notch signalling pathway; YAP activation; cholestasis; hepatocyte transdifferentiation; maturation of bile ducts.