Possible regulation of genes associated with intracellular signaling cascade in rat liver regeneration

Objective The importance of signal transduction in cell activities has been generally accepted. The purpose of this study was to analyze the regulatory effect of intracellular signaling cascade-associated genes on rat liver regeneration (LR) at transcriptional level. Material and methods The associated genes were originally obtained through a search of the databases and related scientific publications; their expression profiles were then checked in rat LR using the Rat Genome 230 2.0 array. The LR-associated genes were identified by comparing the discrepancy in gene expression changes between the partial hepatectomy (PH) group and the sham operation (SO) group. Results A total of 566 genes associated with the intracellular signaling cascade were LR related. The genes involved in nine signaling pathways including intracellular receptor-, second messenger-, nitric oxide-, hormone-, carbohydrate-mediated, protein kinase, small GTPase, ER-nuclear and target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathways were detected to be enriched in a cluster characterized by up-regulated expression in LR. According to their expression similarity and time relevance, they were separately classified into 5 and 5 groups. Conclusions It is presumed that following PH, the second messenger-mediated signaling pathway inhibits the inflammatory response, while the protein kinase cascade and small GTPase-mediated signal transduction stimulate the immune response; the intracellular receptor-, second messenger-, small GTPase-mediated signal transduction and protein kinase cascade coordinately control cell replication; the intracellular receptor-, second messenger-mediated and ER-nuclear signaling pathways facilitate cell differentiation; the MAPK cascade and small GTPase-mediated signal transduction play a role in cytoskeletal reconstruction and cell migration; the second messenger-, small GTPase-mediated and IκB kinase/NFκB cascades take care of protein transport, etc., in LR.