THE CIRCUMFUSION SYSTEM FOR MULTIPURPOSE CULTURE CHAMBERS : II. The Protracted Maintenance of Differentiation of Fetal and Newborn Mouse Liver in Vitro

The circumfusion system is a complex in vitro pumping unit incorporating 12 multipurpose culture chambers through which a serum-supplemented fluid nutrient is recirculated at a rate of 4.5 ml/min per chamber. This system was used to study the differentiative responses of fetal and newborn mouse liver explants placed in the serum-free environment formed between the sheets of unperforated cellophane and cover glasses of the chambers. Hepatocytes (parenchymal cells) were discernible in 3–5 days. They retained many of their features of differentiation in the circumfusion system for more than 120 days of cultivation. The living morphological characteristics of the hepatocytes were studied by phase-contrast microscopy (direct viewing and time-lapse cinemicrography) and by special cytochemical staining. Electron micrographs were made of both fresh liver specimens and the cultured cells. Comparisons of the cultured parenchymal cells with their in vivo progenitors showed a remarkable preservation of their differentiated state.     

Proliferin secreted by cultured cells binds to mannose 6-phosphate receptors

Proliferin is a prolactin-related glycoprotein secreted by proliferating mouse cell lines and by mouse placenta. In an attempt to identify target sites for proliferin action, we looked for proliferin receptors in murine fetal and maternal tissues during pregnancy using proliferin purified from the conditioned medium of a constructed Chinese hamster ovary cell line carrying amplified copies of proliferin cDNA. Purified proliferin bound to membrane preparations from fetal or maternal liver and from placenta with a Kd of 1 to 2 nM. The amount of proliferin bound per microgram of membrane protein varied markedly during pregnancy; maximal binding to day 16 fetal liver membranes was approximately 25 times that to liver membranes from adult animals. Binding to fetal and maternal receptors was specifically and completely inhibited by mannose 6-phosphate, with half-maximal inhibition at 10 microM. Furthermore, non-glycosylated proliferin did not inhibit the binding of the glycosylated protein. A approximately 300 Kd proliferin receptor was purified from the liver of pregnant mice using a proliferin affinity column and elution with mannose 6-phosphate. This receptor reacted with antibodies directed against the rat cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. We conclude that 1) proliferin secreted by cultured cell binds to cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptors and therefore may be a lysosomal protein or targeted to lysosomes, and 2) the concentration or activity of mannose 6-phosphate receptors in murine fetal and maternal liver and in placenta is regulated during pregnancy.     

Dominant role of glucagon in the initial induction of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA in cultured hepatocytes from fetal rats.

The injection of streptozotocin to 18-day-old rat fetuses induced, 2 days later, a 50% fall in plasma insulin and a twofold increase in plasma glucagon concentrations and liver cAMP levels. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA that were undetectable in the fetal rat liver, accumulated 48 h after streptozotocin injection, their concentration being 30% of that found in the liver of 1-day-old newborn rats in whom liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression is maximal. Physiological concentrations of glucagon (0.7 +/- 0.2 nM) induced, within 2 h, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA accumulation in cultured hepatocytes from 20-day-old fetuses. The addition of insulin (0.01-100 nM) inhibits, by no more than 30%, the glucagon-induced phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA accumulation. Exposure of fetal hepatocytes to insulin for 24 h did not change the glucagon dose/response curve and did not lead to a more efficient inhibition of the glucagon-induced phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA accumulation, despite a clear stimulatory effect on the rate of lipogenesis. In contrast, when hepatocytes were cultured in the presence of dexamethasone, the glucagon-induced phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA accumulation can be totally inhibited by pharmacological concentrations of insulin (10 nM). From these in-vivo and in-vitro studies, it is concluded that, under physiological conditions, the postnatal rise in plasma glucagon concentration is more important than the fall in the plasma insulin concentration for the primary induction of liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression.     

Insulin signaling during perinatal liver development in the rat

Insulin has long been assigned a key role in the regulation of growth and metabolism during fetal life. Our prior observations indicated that hepatic insulin signaling is attenuated in the late-gestation fetal rat. Therefore, we studied the perinatal ontogeny of hepatic insulin signaling extending from phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) to the ribosome. Initial studies demonstrated markedly decreased insulin-mediated activation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) in the fetus. We found a similar pattern in the regulation of Akt, a kinase upstream from S6K1. Insulin produced minimal activation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1-associated PI3K activity in fetal liver. A modest IRS-2-associated response was seen in the fetus. However, levels of both IRS-1 and IRS-2 were very low in fetal liver relative to adult liver. IRS-1 content and insulin responsiveness of PI3K, Akt, and S6K1 showed a transition to the adult phenotype during the first several postnatal weeks. Examination of downstream insulin signaling to the translational apparatus showed marked attenuation, relative to the adult, of fetal hepatic insulin-mediated phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, the regulatory protein for the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF4E, and ribosomal protein S6. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a key integrator of nutritional and metabolic regulation of translation, was present in low amounts, was hypophosphorylated, and was not insulin sensitive in the fetus. Our results indicate that protein synthesis during late-gestation liver development may be mTOR and insulin independent. Reexamination of the role of insulin in fetal liver physiology may be warranted.     

Biochemical and phenotypic characterization of human basophilic cells derived from dispersed fetal liver with murine T cell factors

Metachromatically granulated cells were generated from human fetal liver stem cells cultured in heterologous mouse conditioned medium rich in interleukin 3. After 2 to 3 wk of culture with biweekly changes of medium and selection of nonadherent cells, all cells present in five cultures had cytoplasmic granules, and 60 to 95% of the cells stained metachromatically with toluidine blue or with alcian blue but not with the safranin counterstain. Ultrastructurally, many granules contained fibrillar material or electron-dense cores with fibrils and vesicular fragments. In addition, the granules of many cells were filled with electron-dense material, which in some cases had a fine structure consisting of concentric whorls or a reticular pattern. Analysis of high-affinity IgE receptors on the cultured cells by flow cytometry demonstrated a unimodal fluorescence pattern, suggesting that most cells were in the basophil or mast cell lineage. The cultured cells lacked the lymphoid cell surface determinants B1, B4, T3, and T11, the myeloid determinants Mo2 and MY9, the natural killer cell determinant 901, and Ia histocompatibility antigens, but expressed the myeloid determinant MY7. The cells contained 52 ng/10(6) cells of histamine and incorporated [35S]sulfate at an average rate of 31,300 cpm/10(6) cells/4 hr into 175,000 m.w. chondroitin sulfate A proteoglycans. Upon activation with 1 microM calcium ionophore A23187, the cultured cells released 53% of their cell-associated histamine and metabolized arachidonic acid to 15.0 ng/10(6) cells of immunoreactive leukotriene C4 equivalents, 0.5 ng/10(6) cells of leukotriene B4, and 3.1 ng/10(6) cells of prostaglandin D2 (means, n = 3). Thus, stem cells present in human fetal liver give rise, as do stem cells in mouse fetal liver, to metachromatically granulated cells when cultured in the presence of mouse interleukin 3. In both species, the cultured cells bear IgE receptors, lack characteristic lymphoid and most myeloid cell surface determinants, and contain histamine and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. The human fetal liver-derived cells are similar in morphology and T cell factor dependence to basophil-like cells derived from umbilical cord blood, but are novel in their capacity to generate leukotrienes and prostaglandin D2.     

Growth control in primary fetal rat liver cells in culture.

Primary fetal rat liver cells cultured in medium deficient in, but not free of, arginine in the presence of dialyzed fetal calf serum grow until the final cell density is attained and cells become quiescent in the Go phase of the cell cycle. When growing cells are transferred into arginine free medium, cells become reversibly arrested in Go. Fetal rat liver cells can be induced to synthesize DNA by addition of high levels of arginine to serum free medium. Low arginine levels in the culture medium do not induce cell growth unless serum is present. Serum stimulates arginine uptake in fetal rat liver cells suggesting that serum growth factor(s) act by increasing intracellular arginine levels high enough to initiate the growth cycle. Fractionation of fetal calf serum by gel filtration on G-200 Sephadex yields a partially purified arginine uptake stimulating activity which is eluted from the column in the same fractions that contain fetal rat liver cell growth promoting activity. Insulin induces DNA synthesis in quiescent fetal rat liver cells. Glucagon reverses the stimulatory effects of insulin. N-6,O-2-Dibutyryl adenosine 3:5-cyclic monophosphoric acid (But2c-AMP) (10-minus4 M) and theophilline (10-minus3 M) inhibit arginine uptake and the initiation of DNA synthesis by serum. The role of arginine in the control of DNA synthesis in fetal rat liver cells and the mechanism of action of serum growth factors are discussed.     

Immortalized differentiated hepatocyte lines derived from transgenic mice harboring SV40 T-antigen genes

Hepatocytes of transgenic mouse fetuses harboring SV40 virus transforming gene sequences in the SV delta e-MGH fusion gene construct 202 driven by the mouse metallothionein (MT-I) enhancer [R. D. Palmiter, H. Y. Chen, A. Messing, and R. L. Brinster (1985) Nature (London) 316, 457-460] were cultured at Day 19 of gestation and established as a differentiated line expressing albumin and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) mRNAs. Hepatocyte line FMH-202 contains integrated SV40 sequences, expresses SV40 T-antigen genes, and exhibits unlimited growth potential because it has been cultured 18 months without apparent decrease in cell viability or in growth rate that could suggest the occurrence of a crisis period. Immortalized cells multiply in chemically defined medium deficient in arginine with transferrin plus insulin, whereas EGF, insulin, and transferrin are obligatory requirements for fetal or newborn mouse hepatocyte multiplication in primary cultures. Cells did not grow in agar and were not tumorigenic in nude mice. Their immortalized, nonmalignant phenotype was further documented by low saturation densities of confluent monolayers showing no overgrowth, and by growth arrest in the absence of insulin with subsequent induction of DNA synthesis and resumption of cell growth in response to insulin. Thus, it appears that immortalized SV40 T-antigen-expressing hepatocytes are present in the liver of the transgenic mice. However, at later points in liver development the transforming activity of T-antigen becomes apparent and leads to hepatocellular carcinoma formation in vivo.     

Insulin receptors in developing rat liver: Acquisition of down regulation in the immediate postnatal period

Alterations in the high and low affinity insulin receptor concentrations in developing rat liver were investigated. The number of high affinity receptors in partially purified plasma membranes from fetal rats increased from Days 19 through 22 of gestation, with no further increase in binding during the postnatal period. Fetuses of diabetic rats had approximately three times as many high affinity insulin receptors as age-matched fetuses of normal rats; however, by 1 day after birth the receptor number decreased to the normal level. Neither the number of low affinity receptors nor the affinity of insulin binding to high or low affinity receptors changed during development or between offspring of normal and diabetic rats. These changes in the number of high affinity hepatic insulin receptors from prenatal animals did not correlate with the concentration of plasma insulin. When suckling pups were rendered diabetic the changes in the number of high affinity insulin receptors correlated with alterations in plasma insulin concentrations. The number of high affinity sites/microgram DNA in hepatocytes from Day 18 fetal rats was not altered when cells were cultured for 48 h in medium containing 0, 250, or 5000 μU/ml of added insulin. When cultured hepatocytes derived from 1-day-old and adult rats were maintained in medium with added insulin concentrations of 250 or 5000 μU/ml the number of high affinity receptors/microgram DNA decreased as compared to the number of high affinity receptors in hepatocytes cultured in medium with no added insulin. This decrease in receptor number was accompanied by an increase in the affinity of insulin binding to its high affinity receptors. The data show that (i) only the high affinity insulin receptor number increases in rat liver during the prenatal period, (ii) fetuses of diabetic rats show a greater increase in high affinity receptors than do fetuses of normal animals, and (iii) the phenomenon of down regulation for high affinity insulin receptors is not observed in fetal rat liver, but is acquired in the immediate postnatal period.     

Development of primary culture of ovine fetal hepatocytes for studies of amino acid metabolism and insulinlike growth factors

Summary We report the development and characterization of a system of primary culture of ovine fetal hepatocytes to aid in the understanding of the cellular regulation of fetal growth and metabolism with emphasis on amino acid metabolism and insulinlike growth factor gene expression and to allow comparison to in vivo studies. Hepatocytes were isolated from late gestation fetal lambs by in situ perfusion and collagenase digestion utilizing occlusion of the ductus venosus to limit intrahepatic shunting. Hepatocytes were cultured in media modified to mimic fetal concentrations of glucose, lactate, and amino acids. Ovine fetal hepatocytes in primary culture maintain the pattern of fetal amino acid production and utilization seen across the fetal liver in vivo. Specifically, there is a net production of serine and a net utilization of glycine. Cultured ovine fetal hepatocytes specifically increase tritiated thymidine incorporation in response to insulin and insulinlike growth factor II (IGF-II). IGF-II mRNA abundance is high and IGF-I mRNA is low in cultured ovine fetal hepatocytes as in the fetal sheep liver in vivo. These data demonstrate the successful isolation of ovine fetal hepatocytes that retain some of the characteristics of the ovine fetal liver while maintained in short-term culture. Supported in part by grants #HD20761, DK 35836, IP30 HD 27827, and HD 00781 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.     

Murine folliculogenesis in vitro is stage-specifically regulated by insulin via the Akt signaling pathway

Folliculogenesis is a critical process during mammalian development, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying primordial follicular formation, growth, and activation. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of continuous insulin exposure on folliculogenesis in 16.5 dpc and 3 dpp mouse ovaries in vitro. The results demonstrated that 5 μg/ml insulin promotes the phosphorylation of Akt and the primordial follicular assembly and activation process via the InsR/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in the 16.5 dpc fetal mouse ovaries cultured in vitro. However, the presence of 5 μg/ml insulin represses the phosphorylation of Akt and the follicular assembly and activation process in the 3 dpp mouse ovaries cultured in vitro. Furthermore, in vitro cultures of 3 dpp mouse ovaries with insulin can repress the expression of Pten. In conclusion, folliculogenesis was stage-specifically regulated by insulin via the Akt signaling pathway in vitro.     

Insulin and insulin signaling play a critical role in fat induction of insulin resistance in mouse

The primary player that induces insulin resistance has not been established. Here, we studied whether or not fat can cause insulin resistance in the presence of insulin deficiency. Our results showed that high-fat diet (HFD) induced insulin resistance in C57BL/6 (B6) mice. The HFD-induced insulin resistance was prevented largely by the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced moderate insulin deficiency. The STZ-induced insulin deficiency prevented the HFD-induced ectopic fat accumulation and oxidative stress in liver and gastrocnemius. The STZ-induced insulin deficiency prevented the HFD- or insulin-induced increase in hepatic expression of long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL), which are necessary for fatty acid activation. HFD increased mitochondrial contents of long-chain acyl-CoAs, whereas it decreased mitochondrial ADP/ATP ratio, and these HFD-induced changes were prevented by the STZ-induced insulin deficiency. In cultured hepatocytes, we observed that expressions of ACSL1 and -5 were stimulated by insulin signaling. Results in cultured cells also showed that blunting insulin signaling by the PI3K inhibitor LY-294002 prevented fat accumulation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance induced by the prolonged exposure to either insulin or oleate plus sera that normally contain insulin. Finally, knockdown of the insulin receptor prevented the oxidative stress and insulin resistance induced by the prolonged exposure to insulin or oleate plus sera. Together, our results show that insulin and insulin signaling are required for fat induction of insulin resistance in mice and cultured mouse hepatocytes.     

Effects on induction of tyrosine aminotransferase in fetal mouse liver in vitro of prednisolone,insulin and thyroxine

The hormonal requirements for formation of tyrosine aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.5) in fetal mouse liver were investigated in organ culture using chemically defined medium. The hormones tested were insulin, thyroxine and prednisolone. Prednisolone alone resulted in a two-fold increase in tyrosine amino-transferase activity in explanted liver in hormone-free medium on day 6, and its effect was dose dependent, but neither insulin nor thyroxine alone induced the enzyme. Addition of prednisolone plus thyroxine and prednisolone plus insulin increased the enzyme activity 1.4- and 1.3-fold, respectively, over that of explants with prednisolone alone. These three hormones together had the greatest effect, causing induction of 1.5-fold more activity than that with prednisolone plus insulin or plus thyroxine. The three hormones were not all needed continuously during the culture period: prednisolone and insulin were required during the early part of cultivation and thyroxine during the later part. The effects of these hormones were blocked by actinomycin D or puromycin, suggesting that these hormones increase de novo synthesis of tyrosine aminotransferase. Phase-contrast microscopy showed that prednisolone stimulated liver epithelial cell outgrowth, probably acting with insulin.     

Targeted overexpression of inducible 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase in adipose tissue increases fat deposition but protects against diet-induced insulin resistance and inflammatory responses

Increasing evidence demonstrates the dissociation of fat deposition, the inflammatory response, and insulin resistance in the development of obesity-related metabolic diseases. As a regulatory enzyme of glycolysis, inducible 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (iPFK2, encoded by PFKFB3) protects against diet-induced adipose tissue inflammatory response and systemic insulin resistance independently of adiposity. Using aP2-PFKFB3 transgenic (Tg) mice, we explored the ability of targeted adipocyte PFKFB3/iPFK2 overexpression to modulate diet-induced inflammatory responses and insulin resistance arising from fat deposition in both adipose and liver tissues. Compared with wild-type littermates (controls) on a high fat diet (HFD), Tg mice exhibited increased adiposity, decreased adipose inflammatory response, and improved insulin sensitivity. In a parallel pattern, HFD-fed Tg mice showed increased hepatic steatosis, decreased liver inflammatory response, and improved liver insulin sensitivity compared with controls. In both adipose and liver tissues, increased fat deposition was associated with lipid profile alterations characterized by an increase in palmitoleate. Additionally, plasma lipid profiles also displayed an increase in palmitoleate in HFD-Tg mice compared with controls. In cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes, overexpression of PFKFB3/iPFK2 recapitulated metabolic and inflammatory changes observed in adipose tissue of Tg mice. Upon treatment with conditioned medium from iPFK2-overexpressing adipocytes, mouse primary hepatocytes displayed metabolic and inflammatory responses that were similar to those observed in livers of Tg mice. Together, these data demonstrate a unique role for PFKFB3/iPFK2 in adipocytes with regard to diet-induced inflammatory responses in both adipose and liver tissues.     

Regulation of myosin and overall protein degradation in mouse C2 skeletal myotubes

We compared the breakdown of total cellular protein with that of the contractile protein, myosin, in cultured C2 mouse skeletal myotubes. The degradation of long-lived cellular proteins (which comprise the vast majority of myotube proteins) was inhibited by serum, insulin, and rat insulin-like growth factor-2. A physiological concentration of insulin was effective, but most of the effect of insulin occurred at concentrations well above the physiological range. IGF-2 inhibited protein breakdown at concentrations well within the range of total IGF-2 known to be present in the serum of fetal and neonatal rats. The breakdown of short-lived proteins was not altered by insulin or serum. We measured myosin degradation using a monoclonal antibody directed against myosin heavy chain. The half-life of myosin was 27 hours, and myosin breakdown was not altered by serum withdrawal applies to certain proteins, but not to others.     

Ontogeny of ovine fetal liver and kidney plasma membrane insulin receptors and fetal growth

This investigation was performed to define certain characteristics of insulin-receptor interaction during the last 2 months of gestation in fetal sheep liver and kidney. Twenty-one sheep carrying a total of 46 fetuses were sacrificed at various gestational ages from 94 days to term; fetal and maternal livers and kidneys were analyzed by a radioreceptor assay for insulin binding characteristics. Specific binding of insulin to partially purified ovine fetal liver and kidney plasma membranes increased as gestation approached term, at which time specific binding was two- to fourfold greater to fetal than to maternal tissues. Associated with increased specific binding were late gestational increases in affinity of insulin for receptors in both fetal liver and kidney and an earlier increase in insulin receptor concentration in fetal kidney. These observations in fetal sheep liver and kidney are similar to reported observations in other species. However, the increase in specific binding of insulin to male fetal liver membranes was exponential; in contrast, there was no apparent increase in specific binding to female fetal liver membranes during the gestational interval surveyed. Both the weights and the vertebral column lengths of these fetuses were shown by multivariate analysis to be significantly affected by the interaction between specific binding of insulin and fetal sex. However, in 30 additional sheep fetuses we observed no difference between male and female fetuses in the increase with time in liver glycogen content. The lack of sex difference in this postreceptor event is consonant with the demonstrated dissociation between liver insulin receptors and glycogen synthesis in the late fetal rat. Our observations suggest that late gestational differences between male and female sheep fetuses in insulin specific binding to liver and, possibly, to other tissues such as cartilage, muscle, and/or fat, that are coupled to postreceptor events may account for differences in fetal growth between the sexes.     

Evidence that the sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I to inhibition by malonyl-CoA is an important site of regulation of hepatic fatty acid oxidation in the fetal and newborn rabbit. Perinatal development and effects of pancreatic hormones in cultured rabbit hepatocytes.

The temporal changes in oleate oxidation, lipogenesis, malonyl-CoA concentration and sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT 1) to malonyl-CoA inhibition were studied in isolated rabbit hepatocytes and mitochondria as a function of time after birth of the animal or time in culture after exposure to glucagon, cyclic AMP or insulin. (1) Oleate oxidation was very low during the first 6 h after birth, whereas lipogenesis rate and malonyl-CoA concentration decreased rapidly during this period to reach levels as low as those found in 24-h-old newborns that show active oleate oxidation. (2) The changes in the activity of CPT I and the IC50 (concn. causing 50% inhibition) for malonyl-CoA paralleled those of oleate oxidation. (3) In cultured fetal hepatocytes, the addition of glucagon or cyclic AMP reproduced the changes that occur spontaneously after birth. A 12 h exposure to glucagon or cyclic AMP was sufficient to inhibit lipogenesis totally and to cause a decrease in malonyl-CoA concentration, but a 24 h exposure was required to induce oleate oxidation. (4) The induction of oleate oxidation by glucagon or cyclic AMP is triggered by the fall in the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I. (5) In cultured hepatocytes from 24 h-old newborns, the addition of insulin inhibits no more than 30% of the high oleate oxidation, whereas it stimulates lipogenesis and increases malonyl-CoA concentration by 4-fold more than in fetal cells (no oleate oxidation). This poor effect of insulin on oleate oxidation seems to be due to the inability of the hormone to increase the sensitivity of CPT I sufficiently. Altogether, these results suggest that the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I is the major site of regulation during the induction of fatty acid oxidation in the fetal rabbit liver.