The spatiotemporal program of zonal liver regeneration following acute injury.

The liver carries a remarkable ability to regenerate rapidly after acute zonal damage. Single-cell approaches are necessary to study this process, given the spatial heterogeneity of liver cell types. Here, we use spatially resolved single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to study the dynamics of mouse liver regeneration after acute acetaminophen (APAP) intoxication.

Spatial sorting enables comprehensive characterization of liver zonation.

The mammalian liver is composed of repeating hexagonal units termed lobules. Spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomics revealed that about half of hepatocyte genes are differentially expressed across the lobule, yet technical limitations impeded reconstructing similar global spatial maps of other hepatocyte features. Here, we show how zonated surface markers can be used to sort hepatocytes from defined lobule zones with high spatial resolution.