Xenobiotic-responsive nuclear receptors pregnane X receptor (PXR), constitutive active/androstane receptor (CAR) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) play pivotal roles in the metabolic functions of the liver such as xenobiotics detoxification and energy metabolism. While CAR or PPARα activation induces hepatocyte proliferation and hepatocarcinogenesis in rodent models, it remains unclear whether PXR activation also shows such effects. In the present study, we have investigated the role of PXR in the xenobiotic-induced hepatocyte proliferation with or without CAR activation by 1,4-bis[2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)]benzene (TCPOBOP) and phenobarbital, or PPARα activation by Wy-14643 in mice. Treatment with TCPOBOP or phenobarbital increased the percentage of Ki-67-positive nuclei as well as mRNA levels of cell proliferation-related genes in livers as expected. On the other hand, treatment with the PXR activator pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile (PCN) alone showed no such effects. Surprisingly, PCN co-treatment significantly augmented the hepatocyte proliferation induced by CAR activation with TCPOBOP or phenobarbital in wild-type mice but not in PXR-deficient mice. Intriguingly, PXR activation also augmented the hepatocyte proliferation induced by Wy-14643 treatment. Moreover, PCN treatment increased the RNA content of hepatocytes, suggesting the induction of G0/G1 transition, and reduced mRNA levels of Cdkn1b and Rbl2, encoding suppressors of cell cycle initiation. Our present findings indicate that xenobiotic-induced hepatocyte proliferation mediated by CAR or PPARα is enhanced by PXR co-activation despite that PXR activation alone does not cause the cell proliferation in mouse livers. Thus PXR may play a novel and unique role in the hepatocyte/liver hyperplasia upon exposure to xenobiotics.

Growth factor-mediated hepatocyte proliferation is crucial in liver regeneration and the recovery of liver function after injury. The nuclear receptor, pregnane X receptor (PXR), is a key transcription factor for the xenobiotic-induced expression of genes associated with various liver functions. Recently, we reported that PXR activation stimulates xenobiotic-induced hepatocyte proliferation. In the present study, we investigated whether PXR activation also stimulates growth factor-mediated hepatocyte proliferation. In G0 phase-synchronized, immortalized mouse hepatocytes, serum or epidermal growth factor treatment increased cell growth and this growth was augmented by the expression of mouse PXR and co-treatment with pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile (PCN), a PXR ligand. In a liver regeneration model using carbon tetrachloride, PCN treatment enhanced the injury-induced increase in the number of Ki-67-positive nuclei as well as Ccna2 and Ccnb1 mRNA levels in wild-type (WT) but not Pxr-null mice. Chronological analysis of this model demonstrated that PCN treatment shifted the maximum cell proliferation to an earlier time point and increased the number of M-phase cells at those time points. In WT but not Pxr-null mice, PCN treatment reduced hepatic mRNA levels of genes involved in the suppression of G0/G1- and G1/S-phase transition, e.g. Rbl2, Cdkn1a and Cdkn1b. Analysis of the Rbl2 promoter revealed that PXR activation inhibited its Forkhead box O3 (FOXO3)-mediated transcription. Finally, the PXR-mediated enhancement of hepatocyte proliferation was inhibited by the expression of dominant active FOXO3 in vitro. The results of the present study suggest that PXR activation stimulates growth factor-mediated hepatocyte proliferation in mice, at least in part, through inhibiting FOXO3 from accelerating cell-cycle progression.

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