Fig. 3.

DNA microarray analysis of messenger RNA from hepatocytes recovered from normal control, early cirrhotic, and advanced cirrhotic livers. (a) Hierarchical clustering of differentially expressed genes from hepatocytes isolated from livers with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis demonstrated significant gene expression differences among groups depending on the extent of cirrhosis from which the hepatocytes were derived. (b) Schematic representing hypotheses regarding liver cirrhosis, as gleaned from gene expression data. The DNA microarray results suggest that the irreversibly cirrhotic liver is expressing genes that simultaneously drive both proliferation and apoptosis, with a later effect on metabolism (clusters I, II, IV, and V ) , under the control of a central cluster of regulatory genes (cluster III). This regulatory process involves the actions of NF-κB and HNF-4α.