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.