After significant injury, the liver must maintain homeostasis during the regenerative process. We hypothesized the existence of mechanisms to limit hepatocyte proliferation after injury to maintain metabolic and synthetic function. A screen for candidates revealed suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2), an inhibitor of growth hormone (GH) signaling, was strongly induced after partial hepatectomy. Using genetic deletion and administration of various factors we investigated the role of SOCS2 during liver regeneration. SOCS2 preserves liver function by restraining the first round of hepatocyte proliferation after partial hepatectomy by preventing increases in growth hormone receptor (GHR) via ubiquitination, suppressing GH pathway activity. At later times, SOCS2 enhances hepatocyte proliferation by modulating a decrease in serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) that allows GH release from the pituitary. SOCS2, therefore, plays a dual role in modulating the rate of hepatocyte proliferation. In particular, this is the first demonstration of an endogenous mechanism to limit hepatocyte proliferation after injury.Control of liver regeneration requires both stimulatory and inhibitory factors (1-11). Although it might be expected that stimulatory factors are induced and inhibitory factors repressed after partial hepatectomy, in fact, for certain genes, the reverse occurs. For example, suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), 2 an inhibitor of liver regeneration, is induced after partial hepatectomy (2). This observation raises the possibility that mechanisms exist to limit the rate of liver regeneration after injury. What is the reason for this? One possible explanation considers that metabolic activity may be impaired in proliferating compared with non-proliferating hepatocytes. If true, after severe injury liver regeneration might need to be limited to a rate that balances the acute need to maintain the diverse functions of the liver and prevent the death of the organism with the long-term need for hepatocytes to proliferate to restore mass and maximum functional capacity.Growth hormone (GH) signaling plays a central role in liver regeneration and may provide clues to how the rate of hepatocyte proliferation after injury is precisely regulated. Mice lacking GH activity display a diminished response to hepatectomy and do not restore liver mass even 7 days after partial hepatectomy (12). Loss of growth hormone receptor (GHR) impairs liver regeneration, and mice lacking Stat5, a transducer of GH signaling, demonstrate impaired hepatocyte proliferation after partial hepatectomy (13,14).GH is produced in the pituitary, stored in granules, and released into the circulation in response to growth hormone releasing hormone. This process is inhibited by a number of factors, including insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is produced primarily in the liver, and somatostatin (15).In target tissues, GH binds to the GHR and modulates phosphorylation of important intracellular messengers including JAK2, signal transdu...