Cited2, a coactivator of HNF4alpha, is essential for liver development.

The transcriptional modulator Cited2 is induced by various biological stimuli including hypoxia, cytokines, growth factors, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and flow shear. In this study, we report that Cited2 is required for mouse fetal liver development. Cited2(-/-) fetal liver displays hypoplasia with higher incidence of cell apoptosis, and exhibits disrupted cell-cell contact, disorganized sinusoidal architecture, as well as impaired lipid metabolism and hepatic gluconeogenesis.

Partial rescue of defects in Cited2-deficient embryos by HIF-1alpha heterozygosity.

Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) initiates key cellular and tissue responses to physiological and pathological hypoxia. Evidence from in vitro and structural analyses supports a critical role for Cited2 in down-regulating HIF-1-mediated transcription by competing for binding with oxygen-sensitive HIF-1alpha to transcriptional co-activators CBP/p300. We previously detected elevated expression of HIF-1 target genes in Cited2(-/-) embryonic hearts, indicating that Cited2 inhibits HIF-1 transactivation in vivo.