c-Jun/AP-1 controls liver regeneration by repressing p53/p21 and p38 MAPK activity

The AP-1 transcription factor c-Jun is a key regulator of hepatocyte proliferation. Mice lacking c-Jun in the liver (c-jun(Delta li*)) display impaired liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PH). This phenotype correlates with increased protein levels of the cdk-inhibitor p21 in the liver. We performed PH experiments in several double-knockout mouse models to genetically identify the signaling events regulated by c-Jun. Inactivation of p53 in c-jun(Delta li*) mice abrogated both hepatocyte cell cycle block and increased p21 protein expression. Consistently, liver regeneration was rescued in c-jun(Delta li*) p21(-/-) double-mutant mice. This indicated that c-Jun controls hepatocyte proliferation by a p53/p21-dependent mechanism. Analyses of p21 mRNA and protein expression in livers of c-jun(Delta li*) mice after PH revealed that the accumulation of p21 protein is due to a post-transcriptional/post-translational mechanism. We have investigated several candidate pathways implicated in the regulation of p21 expression, and observed increased activity of the stress kinase p38 in regenerating livers of c-jun(Delta li*) mice. Importantly, conditional deletion of p38 alpha in livers of c-jun(Delta li*) mice fully restored hepatocyte proliferation and attenuated increased p21 protein levels after PH. These data demonstrate that c-Jun/AP-1 regulates liver regeneration through a novel molecular pathway that involves p53, p21, and the stress kinase p38 alpha.