Scholars@Duke
Seh Hoon Oh

Seh Hoon Oh

Assistant Professor in Medicine
Medicine, Gastroenterology

Scholarly Works

Age and sex influence transcriptomic responses to statin therapy that control liver aging during systemic metabolic dysfunction.

Journal article Hepatology · February 2, 2026 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Older age increases susceptibility to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), but whether it impacts response to therapies, and how the therapies impact regulators of biological aging, are poorly understood. S ... Full text Link to item Cite

Zinc-dependent RNA-binding protein controls hepatocyte senescence and recovery from alcohol-related liver failure.

Journal article Gut · January 13, 2026 BACKGROUND: Why alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) resolves after abstinence in most people but progresses to liver failure in others remains poorly understood. Experimental models show that increased exposure to proinflammatory cytokines exacerbates A ... Full text Link to item Cite

Targeting senescent hepatocytes for treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and multi-organ dysfunction.

Journal article Nat Commun · March 28, 2025 Senescent hepatocytes accumulate in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and are linked to worse clinical outcomes. However, their heterogeneity and lack of specific markers have made them difficult to target therapeutically. He ... Full text Link to item Cite

The senescence-associated secretome of Hedgehog-deficient hepatocytes drives MASLD progression.

Journal article J Clin Invest · August 27, 2024 The burden of senescent hepatocytes correlates with the severity of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), but the mechanisms driving senescence and how it exacerbates MASLD are poorly understood. Hepatocytes experience lipotoxic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Aging promotes metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease by inducing ferroptotic stress.

Journal article Nat Aging · July 2024 Susceptibility to the biological consequences of aging varies among organs and individuals. We analyzed hepatocyte transcriptomes of healthy young and aged male mice to generate an aging hepatocyte gene signature, used it to deconvolute transcriptomic data ... Full text Link to item Cite

A humanized mouse model for adeno-associated viral gene therapy.

Journal article Nat Commun · March 4, 2024 Clinical translation of AAV-mediated gene therapy requires preclinical development across different experimental models, often confounded by variable transduction efficiency. Here, we describe a human liver chimeric transgene-free Il2rg-/-/Rag2-/-/Fah-/-/A ... Full text Link to item Cite

Targeting senescent hepatocytes using the thrombomodulin-PAR1 inhibitor vorapaxar ameliorates NAFLD progression.

Journal article Hepatology · October 1, 2023 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Senescent hepatocytes accumulate in parallel with fibrosis progression during NASH. The mechanisms that enable progressive expansion of nonreplicating cell populations and the significance of that process in determining NASH outcomes a ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Antagonizing the irreversible thrombomodulin-initiated proteolytic signaling alleviates age-related liver fibrosis via senescent cell killing.

Journal article Cell Res · July 2023 Cellular senescence is a stress-induced, stable cell cycle arrest phenotype which generates a pro-inflammatory microenvironment, leading to chronic inflammation and age-associated diseases. Determining the fundamental molecular pathways driving senescence ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Targeting YAP-mediated HSC death susceptibility and senescence for treatment of liver fibrosis.

Conference Hepatology · June 1, 2023 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Liver fibrosis results from the accumulation of myofibroblasts (MFs) derived from quiescent HSCs, and yes-associated protein (YAP) controls this state transition. Although fibrosis is also influenced by HSC death and senescence, whethe ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Hepatocyte Smoothened Activity Controls Susceptibility to Insulin Resistance and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Conference Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol · 2023 BACKGROUND & AIMS: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a leading cause of cirrhosis, strongly associates with the metabolic syndrome, an insulin-resistant proinflammatory state that disrupts energy balance and promotes progressive liver degeneration. We a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Zac1 and the Imprinted Gene Network program juvenile NAFLD in response to maternal metabolic syndrome.

Journal article Hepatology · October 2022 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Within the next decade, NAFLD is predicted to become the most prevalent cause of childhood liver failure in developed countries. Predisposition to juvenile NAFLD can be programmed during early life in response to maternal metabolic syn ... Full text Link to item Cite

Aging reduces liver resiliency by dysregulating Hedgehog signaling.

Conference Aging Cell · February 2022 Older age is a major risk factor for damage to many tissues, including liver. Aging undermines resiliency and impairs liver regeneration. The mechanisms whereby aging reduces resiliency are poorly understood. Hedgehog is a signaling pathway with critical m ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hepatocyte activity of the cholesterol sensor smoothened regulates cholesterol and bile acid homeostasis in mice.

Journal article iScience · September 24, 2021 Cellular cholesterol is regulated by at least two transcriptional mechanisms involving sterol-regulatory-element-binding proteins (SREBPs) and liver X receptors (LXRs). Although SREBP and LXR pathways are the predominant mechanisms that sense cholesterol i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dysregulation of the ESRP2-NF2-YAP/TAZ axis promotes hepatobiliary carcinogenesis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Journal article J Hepatol · September 2021 BACKGROUND & AIMS: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic correlate of the metabolic syndrome, is a major risk factor for hepatobiliary cancer (HBC). Although chronic inflammation is thought to be the root cause of all these diseases, the m ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inhibiting xCT/SLC7A11 induces ferroptosis of myofibroblastic hepatic stellate cells but exacerbates chronic liver injury.

Journal article Liver Int · September 2021 BACKGROUND & AIMS: The outcome of liver injury is dictated by factors that control the accumulation of myofibroblastic (activated) hepatic stellate cells (MF-HSCs) but therapies that specifically block this process have not been discovered. We evaluated th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Single-cell omics analysis reveals functional diversification of hepatocytes during liver regeneration.

Journal article JCI insight · November 2020 Adult liver has enormous regenerative capacity; it can regenerate after losing two-thirds of its mass while sustaining essential metabolic functions. How the liver balances dual demands for increased proliferative activity with maintenance of organ functio ... Full text Cite

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Identifies Yes-Associated Protein 1-Dependent Hepatic Mesothelial Progenitors in Fibrolamellar Carcinoma.

Journal article Am J Pathol · January 2020 Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is characterized by in-frame fusion of DnaJ heat shock protein family (Hsp40) member B1 (DNAJB1) with protein kinase cAMP-activated catalytic subunit α (PRKACA) and by dense desmoplasia. Surgery is the only effective treatment ... Full text Link to item Cite

Tumor necrosis factor-inducible gene 6 reprograms hepatic stellate cells into stem-like cells, which ameliorates liver damage in mouse.

Journal article Biomaterials · October 2019 Liver fibrosis is a major characteristic of liver disease. When the liver is damaged, quiescent hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) transdifferentiate into proliferative myofibroblastic/activated HSCs, which are the main contributors to liver fibrosis. Hence, a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dysregulated activation of fetal liver programme in acute liver failure.

Journal article Gut · June 2019 OBJECTIVE: Uncertainty about acute liver failure (ALF) pathogenesis limits therapy. We postulate that ALF results from excessive reactivation of a fetal liver programme that is induced in hepatocytes when acutely injured livers regenerate. To evaluate this ... Full text Link to item Cite

Liver regeneration requires Yap1-TGFβ-dependent epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocytes.

Journal article J Hepatol · August 2018 BACKGROUND & AIMS: Chronic failure of mechanisms that promote effective regeneration of dead hepatocytes causes replacement of functional hepatic parenchyma with fibrous scar tissue, ultimately resulting in cirrhosis. Therefore, defining and optimizing mec ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

RNA Binding Proteins Control Transdifferentiation of Hepatic Stellate Cells into Myofibroblasts.

Journal article Cell Physiol Biochem · 2018 BACKGROUND/AIMS: Myofibroblasts (MF) derived from quiescent nonfibrogenic hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the major sources of fibrous matrix in cirrhosis. Because many factors interact to regulate expansion and regression of MF-HSC populations, efforts t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Tumor necrosis factor-inducible gene 6 protein ameliorates chronic liver damage by promoting autophagy formation in mice.

Journal article Exp Mol Med · September 22, 2017 Tumor necrosis factor-inducible gene 6 protein (TSG-6) has recently been shown to protect the liver from acute damage. However, the mechanism underlying the effect of TSG-6 on the liver remains unclear. Autophagy is a catabolic process that targets cell co ... Full text Link to item Cite

Suppression of islet homeostasis protein thwarts diabetes mellitus progression.

Journal article Lab Invest · May 2017 During progression to type 1 diabetes, insulin-producing β-cells are lost through an autoimmune attack resulting in unrestrained glucagon expression and secretion, activation of glycogenolysis, and escalating hyperglycemia. We recently identified a protein ... Full text Link to item Cite

The effect of collagen hydrogel on 3D culture of ovarian follicles.

Journal article Biomed Mater · November 11, 2016 The in vivo function and phenotype of ovarian follicle cells are determined by many factors. When these cells are removed from the in vivo microenvironment and grown in a 2D in vitro environment, the function of the follicular cells is difficult to preserv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Decreased C-reactive protein induces abnormal vascular structure in a rat model of liver dysfunction induced by bile duct ligation.

Journal article Clin Mol Hepatol · September 2016 BACKGROUND/AIMS: Chronic liver disease leads to liver fibrosis, and although the liver does have a certain regenerative capacity, this disease is associated with dysfunction of the liver vessels. C-reactive protein (CRP) is produced in the liver and circul ... Full text Link to item Cite

miR-133b Regulation of Connective Tissue Growth Factor: A Novel Mechanism in Liver Pathology.

Journal article Am J Pathol · May 2016 miRNAs are involved in liver regeneration, and their expression is dysregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a direct target of miR-133b, is crucial in the ductular reaction (DR)/oval cell (OC) response for gen ... Full text Link to item Cite

A disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type I motif 7: a new protease for connective tissue growth factor in hepatic progenitor/oval cell niche.

Journal article Am J Pathol · June 2015 Hepatic progenitor/oval cell (OC) activation occurs when hepatocyte proliferation is inhibited and is tightly associated with the fibrogenic response during severe liver damage. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is important for OC activation and cont ... Full text Link to item Cite

Connective tissue growth factor and integrin αvβ6: a new pair of regulators critical for ductular reaction and biliary fibrosis in mice.

Journal article Hepatology · February 2015 UNLABELLED: Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a matricellular protein that mediates cell-matrix interaction through various subtypes of integrin receptors. This study investigated the role of CTGF and integrin αvβ6 in hepatic progenitor/oval cell a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Syngeneic Myoblast Transplantation Improves Muscle Function in a Murine Model of X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy.

Journal article Cell Transplant · 2015 X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is an isogenic muscle disease characterized by progressive wasting of skeletal muscle, weakness, and premature death of affected male offspring. Recently, the XLMTM gene knock-in mouse, Mtm1 p.R69C, was found to have a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Somatostatin stimulates the migration of hepatic oval cells in the injured rat liver.

Journal article Liver Int · February 2012 BACKGROUND: Somatostatin is a pleiotropic peptide, exerting a variety of effects through its receptor subtypes. Recently, somatostatin has been shown to act as a chemoattractant for haematopoietic progenitor cells and hepatic oval cells (HOC) via receptor ... Full text Link to item Cite

Characterization of a novel functional protein in the pancreatic islet: islet homeostasis protein regulation of glucagon synthesis in α cells.

Journal article Pancreas · January 2012 OBJECTIVE: We have identified a novel protein in bone marrow-derived insulin-producing cells. Here we characterize this protein, hereby named islet homeostasis protein (IHoP), in the pancreatic islet. METHODS: Detection of IHoP mRNA and protein was perform ... Full text Link to item Cite

Isolation of mesenchymal stem cells from the mandibular marrow aspirates.

Journal article Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod · December 2011 OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be obtained from mandible marrow aspirates. STUDY DESIGN: In 5 patients, 10 mL marrow aspirates were obtained from both the mandible and the iliac crest. Second passag ... Full text Link to item Cite

Proliferation of hepatic oval cells via cyclooxygenase-2 and extracellular matrix protein signaling during liver regeneration following 2-AAF/partial hepatectomy in rats

Journal article Gut and Liver · September 1, 2011 Background/Aims: In the 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF)/70% partial hepatectomy (PHx) model, the mechanism underlying the differentiation of activated hepatic oval cells (HOCs) into hepatocytes and bile ductile cells is unclear. We investigated the role of c ... Full text Cite

Therapeutic potential of human mesenchymal stem cells derived from amnion and bone marrow in a rat model of acute liver injury and fibrosis

Journal article Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine · July 1, 2011 Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from various human tissues, including amnion (AM) from the placenta and bone marrow (BM), have been known to differentiate into multi-lineages and mesodermal cell lines. Few comparative studies have reported their pote ... Cite

Low prevalence of HBV DNA in the liver allograft from anti-HBc-positive donors: a single-center experience.

Journal article Clin Transplant · 2011 Allografts from donors positive for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc(+)) can transmit hepatitis B virus (HBV) to the recipients. We aimed to study the prevalence of HBV DNA in liver allografts from anti-HBc(+) donors. Between January 2003 and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hepatic stellate cells' involvement in progenitor-mediated liver regeneration.

Journal article Lab Invest · August 2010 Earlier studies conducted by our laboratory have shown that suppression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta)-mediated upregulation of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) by iloprost resulted in a greatly diminished oval cell response to 2-acetyl ... Full text Link to item Cite

The role of the Wnt family of secreted proteins in rat oval "stem" cell-based liver regeneration: Wnt1 drives differentiation.

Journal article Am J Pathol · June 2010 To date the molecular signals regulating activation, proliferation, and differentiation of hepatic oval cells are not fully understood. The Wnt family is essential in hepatic embryogenesis and implicated in hepatic carcinogenesis. This study elucidates nov ... Full text Link to item Cite

Real-time imaging of de novo arteriovenous malformation in a mouse model of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Journal article J Clin Invest · November 2009 Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are vascular anomalies where arteries and veins are directly connected through a complex, tangled web of abnormal arteries and veins instead of a normal capillary network. AVMs in the brain, lung, and visceral organs, inc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Bone marrow-derived progenitor cells could modulate pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis via peritumoral microenvironment in a rat model.

Journal article Oncol Res · 2009 Metaplastic tubular complexes (MTC) have been proposed as precursor lesions for pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In this study, we investigated the potential role of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells (BMPC) in the formation of MTC and PDAC in a rat mod ... Full text Link to item Cite

Isolation and characterization of hepatic stem cells, or "oval cells," from rat livers.

Journal article Methods Mol Biol · 2009 The pace of research on the potential therapeutic uses of liver stem cells or "oval cells" has accelerated significantly in recent years. Concurrent advancements in techniques for the isolation and characterization of these cells have helped fuel this rese ... Full text Link to item Cite

Detection of transketolase in bone marrow-derived insulin-producing cells: benfotiamine enhances insulin synthesis and glucose metabolism.

Journal article Stem Cells Dev · 2009 Adult bone marrow (BM)-derived insulin-producing cells (IPCs) are capable of regulating blood glucose levels in chemically induced hyperglycemic mice. Using cell transplantation therapy, fully functional BM-derived IPCs help to mediate treatment of diabete ... Full text Link to item Cite

Thy1-positive bone marrow stem cells express liver-specific genes in vitro and can mature into hepatocytes in vivo

Journal article Hepatology International · March 1, 2008 The bone marrow contains stem cells that have the potential to differentiate into a variety of organ-specific mature cells, including the liver and the pancreas. Recently, the origin of hepatic progenitors and hepatocytes was identified to be the bone marr ... Full text Cite

Connective tissue growth factor with a novel fibronectin binding site promotes cell adhesion and migration during rat oval cell activation.

Journal article Hepatology · March 2008 UNLABELLED: Oval cell activation, as part of the regenerative process after liver injury, involves considerable cell-matrix interaction. The matricellular protein, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), has been shown to be critical for oval cell activati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor promotes liver repair and induces oval cell migration and proliferation in rats.

Journal article Gastroenterology · August 2007 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatic regeneration is a heterogeneous phenomenon involving several cell populations. Oval cells are considered liver stem cells, a portion of which derive from bone marrow (BM). Recent studies have shown that granulocyte-colony stimu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Bone marrow-derived hepatic oval cells differentiate into hepatocytes in 2-acetylaminofluorene/partial hepatectomy-induced liver regeneration.

Journal article Gastroenterology · March 2007 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The ability of the bone marrow cells to differentiate into liver, pancreas, and other tissues led to the speculation that these cells might be the source of adult stem cells found in these organs. The present study analyzed whether the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Oval cell response in 2-acetylaminofluorene/partial hepatectomy rat is attenuated by short interfering RNA targeted to stromal cell-derived factor-1.

Journal article Am J Pathol · December 2006 Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) is known to play an essential role in the regulation of stem/progenitor cell trafficking. During hepatic stem, or oval, cell activation, SDF-1 has been reported to be up-regulated within the liver, implying a possible ... Full text Link to item Cite

A potential role of somatostatin and its receptor SSTR4 in the migration of hepatic oval cells.

Journal article Lab Invest · May 2006 Somatostatin (SST) is a regulatory peptide that activates G protein-coupled receptors comprised of five members (somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) 1-5). Despite the broad use of SST and its analogs in clinical practice, the spectrum of SST activities has been ... Full text Link to item Cite

Role of connective tissue growth factor in oval cell response during liver regeneration after 2-AAF/PHx in rats.

Journal article Gastroenterology · June 2005 BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recruitment and proliferation of Thy-1+ oval cells is a hallmark of liver regeneration after 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF)/partial hepatectomy (PHx) in rats. To understand the molecular mechanism underlying this process, we investigated ... Full text Link to item Cite

Teratoma formation leads to failure of treatment for type I diabetes using embryonic stem cell-derived insulin-producing cells.

Journal article Am J Pathol · June 2005 Embryonic stem (ES) cells have been proposed to be a powerful tool in the study of pancreatic disease, as well as a potential source for cell replacement therapy in the treatment of diabetes. However, data demonstrating the feasibility of using pancreatic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Stem-cell therapy for hepatobiliary pancreatic disease.

Journal article J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg · 2005 The transplantation of pancreatic beta cells or hepatocytes represents a potential therapeutic approach for type I diabetes and inherited liver diseases, respectively. Furthermore, acquired liver diseases, particularly acute hepatic failure due to toxic or ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adult bone marrow-derived cells trans-differentiating into insulin-producing cells for the treatment of type I diabetes.

Journal article Lab Invest · May 2004 Recent findings suggest that bone marrow (BM) cells have the capacity to differentiate into a variety of cell types including endocrine cells of the pancreas. We report that BM derived cells, when cultured under defined conditions, were induced to trans-di ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hepatic oval 'stem' cell in liver regeneration.

Journal article Semin Cell Dev Biol · December 2002 Hepatic oval cell activation, proliferation, and differentiation has been observed under certain physiological conditions, mainly when the proliferation of existing hepatocytes has been inhibited followed by severe hepatic injury. Hepatic oval cells displa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hepatocyte growth factor induces differentiation of adult rat bone marrow cells into a hepatocyte lineage in vitro.

Journal article Biochem Biophys Res Commun · December 20, 2000 Bone marrow (BM) cells originally include alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)- and c-Met [a receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)]-expressing cells. In vitro treatment of BM cells with HGF induced albumin-expressing hepatocyte-like cells. Furthermore, those hepa ... Full text Link to item Cite