Expression data from human livers shortly following partial hepatectomy (PHx)

The liver has a remarkable ability to regenerate, with the best experimental model for regeneration being partial hepatectomy (PHx), in which up to two-thirds of the liver may be removed, and the residual lobes enlarge to make up for the missing mass in a few days’ time. Liver regeneration has been extensively studied, mainly in rodent models, and characterized in terms of transcriptional regulation of gene expression. However, little is known regarding regulation of gene expression in a human model of regeneration following PHx. We used microarrays to follow gene expression changes shortly following PHx. Liver tissues were collected from patients undergoing a PHx surgery (1.5, 42 and 81 years) under an IRB approval, at the onset (T0) and shortly after PHx (0.5hr, 1hr and 1.5hrs) for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.