Differential TAM receptor regulation of hepatic physiology and injury

Abstract

The TAM receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) Mer and Axl have been implicated in liver disease, yet our understanding of their roles in liver homeostasis and injury is limited. We therefore examined the performance of Mer and Axl mutant mice during aging, and in four models of liver injury. We find that Mer and Axl are most prominently expressed in Kupffer and hepatic endothelial cells, and that as Axl-/-Mertk-/- mice normally age, they develop profound liver disease. We further find that Mer signaling is critical to the phagocytosis of apoptotic hepatocytes that are generated during acute hepatic injury, and that Mer and Axl act in concert to inhibit injury-triggered cytokine production. TAM expression in Kupffer cells is crucial for these effects. In contrast, we show that Axl is uniquely important in mitigating liver damage during acute acetaminophen intoxication. Finally, we demonstrate that Axl exacerbates the fibrosis that develops in a model of chronic hepatic injury. These divergent effects have important implications for the design and implementation of TAM-directed therapeutics that target these RTKs in the liver.