Cellular and Molecular Cascades during Liver Regeneration

The demand for organs such as the liver for patients with end stage disease is greater than what is currently available. Thus, there is a dire need to have alternative solutions, for which none exist at the moment. Investigating the key underlying mechanisms involved not only in liver regeneration and repair, but also in development, can give us a better under standing of how to promote a pro-regenerative phenotype in the liver. This review will focus on the cellular and molecular aspects of liver regeneration and address signaling mechanisms involved in liver development and how they are recapitulated in regeneration after a partial hepatectomy.