Fig. 7

Liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy in adult zebrafish is enhanced by wnt activation. (A–D) En-bloc dissection of APC^+/- and hs:wnt8 (induced from 6 to 18 hpr) fish at 3 dpr revealed enhanced regeneration, while inhibition of signaling by dnTCF (induced from 6 to 18 hpr) resulted in severely impaired regenerative capacity. (E) Quantitative analysis of the liver lobe:remnant ratios in zebrafish at days 1, 3, 5 and 7 post resection reveals enhanced regenerative kinetics caused by wnt/β-catenin activation in APC^+/- (blue triangle) and wnt8 (light blue diamond) fish, while dnTCF (green circle) inhibits liver regeneration. (F) In vivo volume measurements of the inferior liver lobe by high-frequency ultrasound at 3 dpr confirmed the regenerative advantage in APC^+/- (blue) and wnt8 (light blue) fish and the decreased regenerative capacity in dnTCF fish (green) (ANOVA, n = 3/genotype, p < 0.05). (G–J) IHC in these fish at 3 dpr revealed increased cytoplasmic and nuclear β-catenin staining in APC^+/- and hs:wnt8 fish. (K–N) Hepatocyte proliferation measured by PCNA staining was increased in APC^+/- and wnt8 fish, but absent in dnTCF fish. Significant differences are indicated with an asterisk (∗).