Rngtt governs biliary-derived liver regeneration initiation by transcriptional regulation of mTORC1 and Dnmt1 in zebrafish

In cases of end-stage liver diseases, the proliferation of existing hepatocytes is compromised, a feature of human chronic liver disease, in which most hepatocytes are dysfunctional. So far, liver transplantation represents the only curative therapeutic solution for advanced liver diseases, and the shortage of donor organs leads to high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The promising treatment is to prompt the biliary epithelial cells (BECs) transdifferentiation. However, the critical factors governing the initiation of BEC-derived liver regeneration are largely unknown. The zebrafish has advantages in large-scale genetic screens to identify the critical factors involved in liver regeneration. Here, we combined N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea screen, positional cloning, transgenic lines, antibody staining, and in situ hybridization methods and identified a liver regeneration defect mutant (lrd) using the zebrafish extensive liver injury model. Through positional cloning and genomic sequencing, we mapped the mutation site to rngtt. Loss of rngtt leads to the defects of BEC dedifferentiation, bipotential progenitor cell activation, and cell proliferation in the initiation stage of liver regeneration. The transdifferentiation from BECs to hepatocytes did not occur even at the late stage of liver regeneration. Mechanically, Rngtt transcriptionally regulates the attachment of mRNA cap to mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) components and dnmt1 to maintain the activation of mTORC1 and DNA methylation in BECs after severe liver injury and prompt BEC to hepatocyte conversion. Furthermore, rptor and dnmt1 mutants displayed the same liver regeneration defects as rngtt mutation. In conclusion, our results suggest Rngtt is a new factor that initiates BEC-derived liver regeneration.

Automated summary

In end-stage liver diseases, the dysfunctionality of hepatocytes and the scarcity of donor organs make liver transplantation the only curative therapeutic solution. Promoting the transdifferentiation of biliary epithelial cells (BECs) offers a promising treatment, yet the factors governing BEC-derived liver regeneration remain unknown. This study used zebrafish to identify a liver regeneration defect mutant (lrd) and found that the loss of rngtt led to defects in BEC dedifferentiation, progenitor cell activation, and cell proliferation during liver regeneration initiation. The findings suggest that Rngtt is a new factor that initiates BEC-derived liver regeneration.