Study
Liver Regeneration
Michalopoulos, George K.; DeFrances, Marie C.
Science, 1997
A review of the response to partial hepatectomy: which cells divide, what triggers and terminates the growth, and how the restored organ compares in structure and function with the original.
- Studied in
- Rattus norvegicus, Homo sapiens, Mus musculus
- Sample size
- review of hepatectomy and liver growth research
After removal of up to two thirds of the liver, the remaining lobes enlarge by proliferation of existing mature hepatocytes until the original total mass is restored, typically within weeks. The removed lobes do not regrow, and the resulting organ differs in shape from the original while matching it in mass and function. Growth stops precisely when mass is restored.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Liver regrowth is compensatory hyperplasia of the remaining tissue rather than regeneration of the missing structure.
How NatureHQ reads it
The technical term is compensatory hyperplasia, and the distinction it draws is the whole answer to a question people genuinely ask. Take a lobe out of a liver and the lobe does not come back: the rest gets bigger until there is as much liver as there was before. Function is restored and anatomy is not, which is a different achievement from an axolotl rebuilding a limb with the right number of fingers in the right places. Impressive, and impressive at something else — the liver has solved "how much" without solving "what shape", and shape is the hard part.
- Most mechanistic detail comes from rodents; human data are largely clinical and observational.
- A 1997 review; the signalling account has been substantially extended since.
- Regrowth is impaired in diseased or cirrhotic livers, where most clinical interest lies.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of SciencePublished in Science or Science Advances (AAAS).
doi.org/10.1126/science.276.5309.60
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.