TGF-beta and cancer research group<\/a> at IDIBELL.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Parallels with embryonic liver development<\/strong><\/p>\nTo obtain a global and dynamic view of the regeneration process, the researchers have analysed multiple genomic data that have made it possible, among others, to compare regeneration with embryonic development of the liver and to detect parallels between both processes. With this approach, they have been able to demonstrate that the expression of key genes for regeneration is orchestrated by a wide variety of regulatory elements<\/strong>, including enhancers – regions of DNA that activate gene expression – specific to regeneration, but also reactivated developmental enhancers – reused from various stages of embryonic development.<\/p>\nResearchers have also found that liver regeneration involves the repression of enhancers that regulate specific metabolic functions of the liver, especially those involved in the metabolism of fats and other lipids. “This reveals that regeneration is a highly regulated process, in which an inverse relationship is established: these proliferation programs are prioritized while metabolic processes of high energy demand<\/strong>, such as the synthesis of bile acids and retinols, are temporarily inhibited<\/strong>,” stresses Palmira Llorens-Giralt.<\/p>\nThe study also identifies possible transcriptional regulators that orchestrate liver regeneration: these are three transcription factors, proteins that regulate the activity of genes by stimulating or repressing their transcription. Thus, at the beginning of liver regeneration, the AP-1<\/strong> and ATF3<\/strong> complexes would be responsible for activating the enhancers responsible for turning on the transcriptional programs to allow the hepatocytes to come out of their inactive state and begin to proliferate. In a second phase, this regulation would become dominated by NRF2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A bridge to translational regenerative medicine<\/strong><\/p>\nOne of the highlights of this study is that it provides a genome-wide map of enhancer-gene interactions. Together with the identification of key regulators in early liver regeneration, this could be a valuable resource for future research focusing on regulatory elements involved in liver regeneration.<\/p>\n
Although this is a basic research study and therefore aims to better understand the fundamental mechanisms of regeneration, without immediate clinical application, the researchers stress that it may have implications for the development of regenerative medicine<\/strong>. “This in-depth knowledge is what makes it possible to lay the foundations for future medical advances and, finally, to translate into specific therapeutic interventions, such as drugs that activate specific enhancers or that modulate the regenerative response. Studies like this, therefore, can act as a bridge to translational regenerative medicine,” the researchers conclude.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nThe Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research center established in 2004 specialized in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine, and regenerative medicine. It counts on a team of more than 1.500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1.400 scientific articles per year. IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona, and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.<\/em><\/p>\nIDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A genomic-scale map of the interactions between the regulatory elements of liver regeneration and the key genes involved is drawn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":25896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[180,264,215],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancer","category-molecular-mechanisms-and-experimental-therapy-in-oncology-program-oncobell","category-tgf-beta-and-cancer"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-06-14 06:30:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25890"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25912,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25890\/revisions\/25912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idibell.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}