Demonstration of cooperative contribution of MET- and EGFR-mediated STAT3 phosphorylation to liver regeneration by exogenous suppressor of cytokine signalings

BACKGROUND/AIMS: As conditional knockout mice for stat3 are impaired in liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy while those for gp130 have defects in early STAT3 phosphorylation but have normal DNA synthesis, late STAT3 phosphorylation induced independently of gp130 seems to be essential for liver regeneration. Since HGF and EGF can activate STAT3 via gp130-independent MET and EGFR, respectively, we assumed that these factors account for STAT3-dependent liver regeneration. Here, we investigated this hypothesis by introducing suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1 and SOCS3, potent negative regulators of STAT3 signaling, selectively in hepatocytes. METHODS: We generated recombinant adenoviruses expressing socs1 and socs3. RESULTS: Hepatocytes infected with socs1-virus lacked STAT3 phosphorylation in response to IL-6 and HGF, while cells infected with socs3-virus lacked the response to all of IL-6, HGF and EGF, indicating that those SOCS proteins differently regulate EGFR signaling. Mice infected with socs3-virus exhibited severe and persistent impairment while those with socs1-virus showed only delayed regeneration, indicating requirement of both MET and EGFR signalings. CONCLUSIONS: These results clearly demonstrated that MET- and EGFR-mediated STAT3 signalings cooperatively contribute to liver regeneration and could provide new insights into tissue homeostasis.