Compensatory Regeneration, Mitogen-Induced Liver Growth, and Multistage Chemical Carcinogenesis

Liver cell proliferation has often been implicated to play a major role during different steps of the carcinogenic process. Most of the experimental studies indicating a close association between cell proliferation and liver cancer development have made use of a compensatory type of proliferative st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental health perspectives Vol. 101; no. Suppl 5; pp. 163 - 168
Main Authors Ledda-Columbano, Giovanna Maria, Coni, Pierpaolo, Simbula, Gabriella, Zedda, Ignazio, Columbano, Amedeo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. National Institutes of Health. Department of Health, Education and Welfare 01.12.1993
Subjects
Animals
Apoptosis
Carcinogenesis
Cell death
Cell Division - drug effects
Cell growth
Cocarcinogenesis
Gene Expression
Hepatocytes
Humans
Hyperplasia
Liver
Liver - drug effects
Liver - pathology
Liver cells
Liver Neoplasms - etiology
Liver Neoplasms - pathology
Liver Neoplasms, Experimental - etiology
Liver Regeneration - drug effects
Manuscripts from Posters
Mitogens
Mitogens - pharmacology
Proto-Oncogenes
Rats
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Summary:Liver cell proliferation has often been implicated to play a major role during different steps of the carcinogenic process. Most of the experimental studies indicating a close association between cell proliferation and liver cancer development have made use of a compensatory type of proliferative stimulus. However, liver growth may also be caused by direct hyperplasia after administration of primary mitogens. Our recent studies examined the possible differences between these two types of cell proliferation. Our studies indicate that a) increased expression of proto-oncogenes such as c-fos, c-jun, and c-myc is not necessary for entry into the cell cycle during mitogen-induced liver growth; b) mitogen-induced liver growth does not support initiation of chemical hepatocarcinogenesis; c) repeated proliferative stimuli induced by primary mitogens do not stimulate the growth of initiated cells to a focal and/or nodular stage; and d) mitogen-induced liver growth, unlike compensatory regeneration, is followed by a particular mode of cell death, namely, apoptosis. This type of cell death may be responsible for the elimination of carcinogen-initiated cells.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.2307/3431862