Polyploidisation in hepatocytes has been associated with many physiologic and pathologic processes such as proliferation,
metabolism, regeneration, aging, and cancer. We studied gene expression patterns in hepatocytes of different ploidy. Primary
hepatocytes were obtained from mice of different ages: young (4–6 weeks old), adult (8–10 weeks old), and older (22–24 weeks
old). Diploid (2N), tetraploid (4N), and octoploid (8N) hepatocytes were isolated for studies using a high-density mouse genome
microarray. No major changes of gene expression patterns between hepatocytes of different ploidy were found. Fifty genes were
identified as differentially expressed in the diploid and tetraploid populations, but the changes were less than twofold either
way. Four genes (
Gas2,
Igfbp2,
Nr1i3, and
Ccne2) were differentially expressed in tetraploid and octoploid cells. This was confirmed in two age groups, “adult” and “older,”
but once again the factors were less than twofold and the expressions of
Gas2 and
Igfbp2 were more different between age groups than between ploidy classes. Our results show that polyploid hepatocytes are stable
and “normal” without aberrant gene expression, unlike what is thought for cancer cells. By contrast to megakaryocytes, hepatocyte
polyploidisation is not a differentiation step associated with major changes in gene expression. Our data support the hypothesis
that hepatocyte polyploidisation is a protective mechanism against oxidative stress that occurs via a controlled process throughout
growth and aging where binucleation is important.