肝臟再生是與細胞轟動,、脂質代謝和細胞分裂相一致的一種事先編排好的細胞應答,。來自西班牙,、澳大利亞和德國三國的科學家發(fā)現caveolin-1基因被破壞的小鼠模型（cav1–/–小鼠），其肝臟再生受損,，并且在進行部分肝臟切除手術后的存活率也明顯下降,。這些發(fā)現公布在最新一期（9月15日）的《科學》雜志上。
這種特殊的小鼠模型的肝細胞中脂質液滴的聚集明顯減少,。當研究人員用葡萄糖（葡萄糖比脂質相比是一種占主導底物的能量物質）治療這種小鼠時,，小鼠手術后的存活呂顯著上升，并且細胞周期進程再次變得穩(wěn)定,。
這些試驗結果表明caveolin-1在協(xié)調脂質代謝和在細胞損傷發(fā)生后的肝臟中擴增應答（再生）的機制中起到關鍵作用。這種肝細胞再生的關鍵物質的發(fā)現,，為提高肝臟切除患者存活率以及治療肝臟疾病患者提供了一種可能的靶標,。
部分英文原文：
Caveolin-1 Is Essential for Liver Regeneration
Liver regeneration is an orchestrated cellular response that coordinates cell activation, lipid metabolism, and cell division. We found that caveolin-1 gene–disrupted mice (cav1–/– mice) exhibited impaired liver regeneration and low survival after a partial hepatectomy. Hepatocytes showed dramatically reduced lipid droplet accumulation and did not advance through the cell division cycle. Treatment of cav1–/– mice with glucose (which is a predominant energy substrate when compared to lipids) drastically increased survival and reestablished progression of the cell cycle. Thus, caveolin-1 plays a crucial role in the mechanisms that coordinate lipid metabolism with the proliferative response occurring in the liver after cellular injury.
