肝细胞核因子4α:肝脏疾病研究与治疗的新方向

Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4α: A New Direction of Liver Disease Research and Treatment

肝脏是人体内最大的实质性器官,是人体的“化工厂”.肝脏组织60％～ 80％由肝细胞组成,肝细胞通过特异性地表达一系列功能与分化相关基因,为肝脏发挥重要的生物学功能提供保障.肝细胞核因子4α（HNF4α）是细胞核受体超家族成员,在分化成熟的肝细胞中高表达,能与成熟肝脏中12％的基因的启动子结合,对促进正常的肝细胞分化和维护正常的肝细胞生物学功能发挥着重要的调控作用.近年来,人们开始研究HNF4α与各种肝脏疾病间的关系,并且取得了一定的研究成果,为肝脏疾病的进一步研究和临床治疗提供了新的思路.

The liver is the largest solid organ of human body,the body＇s ＂ chemical plant＂.Liver tissue is consisted of 60%-80% hepatocytes,which play an important role depending on the liver-specific expression of a series of functional and differentiational genes,Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α（HNF4α） is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily.It is highly expressed in the mature hepatocyte and can combine with 12% of liver gene promoters to regulate normal differentiation and biological function of liver cells.In recent years,people have begun to study the relationships between HNF4α and a variety of liver diseases and have made some achievements,thus offered a new way of further study and clinical therapy on liver diseases.