A reproducible and well-tolerated method for 2/3 partial hepatectomy in mice
Abstract
The ability of hepatocytes to enter the cell cycle and regenerate the liver after tissue loss provides an in vivo model to study the regulation of proliferation and organ regeneration. The extent of hepatocyte proliferation is directly proportional to the amount of resected liver tissue, and 2/3 partial hepatectomy (2/3 PH) leads to highly synchronized hepatocyte cell-cycle entry and progression. This surgical technique was first described in rats and requires modification for application in mice. Lack of standardization of 2/3 PH in mice has caused discrepancies in the results obtained in different laboratories. Here, we provide a protocol and a movie describing a straightforward surgical technique, which takes 15-20 min, to consistently remove two-thirds of the liver in mice. As this protocol is not associated with mortality and gives highly reproducible results, we hope that it will be widely used and serve to standardize 2/3 PH in mice.
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PHx was performed based on the standardized procedure described by Mitchell and Willenbring (2008).
“PHx was performed based on the standardized procedure described by Mitchell and Willenbring (2008).”
From Model Based Targeting of IL-6-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Cultured Primary Hepatocytes to Improve Application of the JAK Inhibitor Ruxolitinib (2017) · cites this paper as Mitchell and Willenbring (2008)
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- Authors
- Mitchell, C., & Willenbring, H.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mitchell, Claudia
- ORCID
- Willenbring, Holger
- Venue
- Nature Protocols
- Published
- 2008-06-19
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1167-1170
- ISSN
- 1750-2799 (ISSN-L)
- 1754-2189
- OpenAlex
- W2076981447
- Cited by
- 577
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 11.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- addendum (2014-05-29)
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nature Protocols (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver physiology and pathology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Organ Transplantation Techniques and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
- Keywords
- hepatocyte proliferation, hepatocyte cell cycle, surgical technique standardization, mouse model
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Hepatectomy, Liver, Regeneration, Hepatocytes, Cell Proliferation, Mice
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