Characterisation of forkhead box protein A3 as a key transcription factor for hepatocyte regeneration

Guoqiang Li; Lijun Zhu; Mingwei Guo; Dongmei Wang; Meiyao Meng; Yinzhao Zhong; Zhijian Zhang; Yi Lin; Caizhi Liu; Jiawen Wang; Yahui Zhang; Yining Gao; Yuxiang Cao; Zhirui Xia; Jin Qiu; Yu Li; Shuang Liu; Haibing Chen; Wenyue Liu; Yu Han; Minghua Zheng; Xinran Ma; Lingyan Xu

doi:10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100906

Characterisation of forkhead box protein A3 as a key transcription factor for hepatocyte regeneration

JHEP Rep. 2023 Sep 12;5(12):100906. doi: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100906. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Guoqiang Li¹, Lijun Zhu¹, Mingwei Guo¹, Dongmei Wang¹, Meiyao Meng¹, Yinzhao Zhong¹, Zhijian Zhang², Yi Lin², Caizhi Liu^{1

3}, Jiawen Wang¹, Yahui Zhang², Yining Gao³, Yuxiang Cao¹, Zhirui Xia¹, Jin Qiu¹, Yu Li^{1

4}, Shuang Liu¹, Haibing Chen^{3

5}, Wenyue Liu⁶, Yu Han⁴, Minghua Zheng^{7

8}, Xinran Ma^{1

9

10}, Lingyan Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁷ MAFLD Research Center, Department of Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment for the Development of Chronic Liver Disease in Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou, China.
⁹ Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
¹⁰ Chongqing Key Laboratory of Precision Optics, Chongqing Institute of East China Normal University, Chongqing, China.

Abstract

Background & aims: Liver regeneration is vital for the recovery of liver function after injury, yet the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Forkhead box protein A3 (FOXA3), a member of the forkhead box family, plays important roles in endoplasmic reticulum stress sensing, and lipid and glucose homoeostasis, yet its functions in liver regeneration are unknown.

Methods: Here, we explored whether Foxa3 regulates liver regeneration via acute and chronic liver injury mice models. We further characterised the molecular mechanism by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and rescue experiments in vivo and in vitro. Then, we assessed the impact of Foxa3 pharmacological activation on progression and termination of liver regeneration. Finally, we confirmed the Foxa3-Cebpb axis in human liver samples.

Results: Foxa3 is dominantly expressed in hepatocytes and cholangiocytes and is induced upon partial hepatectomy (PH) or carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) administration. Foxa3 deficiency in mice decreased cyclin gene levels and delayed liver regeneration after PH, or acute or chronic i.p. CCl₄ injection. Conversely, hepatocyte-specific Foxa3 overexpression accelerated hepatocytes proliferation and attenuated liver damage in an CCl₄-induced acute model. Mechanistically, Foxa3 directly regulates Cebpb transcription, which is involved in hepatocyte division and apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. Of note, Cebpb overexpression in livers of Foxa3-deficient mice rescued their defects in cell proliferation and regeneration upon CCl₄ treatment. In addition, pharmacological induction of Foxa3 via cardamonin speeded up hepatocyte proliferation after PH, without interfering with liver regeneration termination. Finally, Cebpb and Ki67 levels had a positive correlation with Foxa3 expression in human chronic disease livers.

Conclusions: These data characterise Foxa3 as a vital regulator of liver regeneration, which may represent an essential factor to maintain liver mass after liver injury by governing Cebpb transcription.

Impact and implications: Liver regeneration is vital for the recovery of liver function after chemical insults or hepatectomy, yet the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Herein, via in vitro and in vivo models and analysis, we demonstrated that Forkhead box protein A3 (FOXA3), a Forkhead box family member, maintained normal liver regeneration progression by governing Cebpb transcription and proposed cardamonin as a lead compound to induce Foxa3 and accelerate liver repair, which signified that FOXA3 may be a potential therapeutic target for further preclinical study on treating liver injury.

Keywords: Carbon tetrachloride; Forkhead box A; Liver regeneration; Partial hepatectomy; Proliferation.