Surviving Acute Organ Failure: Cell Polyploidization and Progenitor Proliferation

Acute injuries of heart, liver, and kidney, which present clinically as diverse syndromes, share numerous pathophysiological mechanisms. Survival of dedifferentiated parenchymal cells and/or widespread proliferation is often spoken of as a potential mechanism of repair for acute injuries. Recently, two types of responses after acute organ failure have appeared to be shared in the liver, heart, and kidney: (i) surviving differentiated parenchymal cells undergo cell hypertrophy via polyploidization; and (ii) a population of progenitors, mostly identified as resident, more immature diploid parenchymal cells, self-renew and differentiate to replace lost cells