Effect of partial hepatectomy on the glycogen level in hepatocytes in the portal and central lobule zones in cirrhotically-changed rat liver

Using cytophotometric method, the content of glycogen was studied in hepatocytes of the portal and central zones of a liver lobule in norm, in cirrhosis, and 1, 3, and 6 months after a partial hepatectomy of the normal and cirrhotic rat liver. As we showed earlier, glycogen content in cirrhotic liver hepatocytes rose 2-3-fold, along with obvious impairment of glycogen metabolic heterogeneity in these. In cirrhotic liver glycogen dominates in the central zone, whereas in norm more glycogen is observed in the portal one. The objective of this study was to find out to what degree a partial hepatectomy of cirrhotic liver may promote recovery of the metabolic glycogen heterogeneity in hepatocytes. Glycogen was determined in hepatocytes, using a quantitative variant of PAS-reaction on sections of the material obtained from serial supravital punctate liver biopsies. Glycogen amount in hepatocytes of different liver lobule zones was determined by an image analyzer technique that allows to bring together the cytophotometric analysis of the substance with its localization in a particular liver lobule. Results of these studies have shown that a partial hepatectomy of cirrhotic liver promotes restoration of the hepatocyte metabolic heterogeneity in the liver lobule.     

Role of neuraminic acid in the heterogeneity of alkaline phosphatase in sheep brain

1. Comparative studies of the polyuridylic acid-directed phenylalanine-incorporating activity of cell-free systems derived from rat and chicken livers demonstrated markedly lower activity in the chicken liver system. 2. The chicken liver cell sap contained the factor(s) responsible for this lower activity. Ribosomes from chicken and rat performed equally well in the presence of rat liver cell sap. Chicken liver cell sap, when mixed with rat liver cell sap, caused an inhibition of incorporation of phenylalanine into acid-insoluble material. 3. Though ribosomal preparations and cell sap from both rat and chicken liver degraded polyuridylic acid to some extent, the chicken liver cell sap contained the largest amount of activity. 4. Rat liver cell sap inhibited the nuclease activities of ribosomal preparations, but no such nuclease inhibition could be demonstrated with chicken liver cell sap.     

Beta-hexosaminidase activity in alcoholic fatty liver and in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis of the rat

beta-Hexosaminidase (Hex) activity was previously found to be increased in the sera of patients with liver cirrhosis, cholestasis and acute alcohol intoxication, as well as in rats with CCl4-induced liver cirrhosis. We studied this enzymatic activity in the sera and liver tissue of rats with alcoholic fatty liver due to prolonged alcohol intake and CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in association with moderate alterations in liver function tests. Serum and liver Hex activity did not show any significant change in both experimental models. These data suggest that Hex is not an alcohol-induced enzyme, and that severe, but not moderate, liver damage can determine the increase in this lysosomal enzymatic activity.     

Changes in lipid synthesis in rat liver during development

1. Lipogenesis, as measured by the incorporation of ¹⁴C-labelled glucose or acetate into fatty acids in liver slices, is high in foetal and adult rat liver but is low in the liver of the suckling rat, especially with glucose as substrate. 2. The rate of synthesis of non-saponifiable lipids from glucose is about 15 times as great in the liver of the 18-day foetus as in adult liver. Activity in the newborn is negligible. 3. Glucose incorporation into fat is strongly concentration-dependent in liver slices from the adult and 2-week-old rat, but less markedly so in liver slices from the foetus. 4. Changes in the activity of hepatic citrate-cleavage enzyme (ATP–citrate lyase) occur in parallel with the changes in the extent of fatty acid formation, supporting the participation of this enzyme in lipogenesis. However, NADP–malate dehydrogenase, a potential source of reduced nucleotide coenzyme for lipogenesis in the adult, could not be detected in foetal rat liver.     

Expression of glutamine synthetase in macrophages.

We studied the expression of glutamine synthetase in liver macrophages (Kupffer cells, KCs) in situ and in culture. Glutamine synthetase was detectable at the mRNA and protein level in freshly isolated and short-term-cultured rat liver macrophages. Enzyme activity and protein content were about 9% of that in liver parenchymal cells. In contrast, glutamine synthetase mRNA levels in liver macrophages apparently exceeded those in parenchymal liver cells (PCs). By use of confocal laser scanning microscopy and specific macrophage markers, immunoreactive glutamine synthetase was localized to macrophages in normal rat liver and normal human liver in situ. All liver macrophages stained positive for glutamine synthetase. In addition, macrophages in rat pancreas contained immunoreactive glutamine synthetase, whereas glutamine synthetase was not detectable at the mRNA and protein level in blood monocytes and RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages. No significant amounts of glutamine synthetase were found in isolated rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs). The data suggest a constitutive expression of glutamine synthetase not only, as previously believed, in perivenous liver parenchymal cells but also in resident liver macrophages.     

Role of liver stem cells in hepatocarcinogenesis

Liver cancer is an aggressive disease with a high mortality rate. Management of liver cancer is strongly dependent on the tumor stage and underlying liver disease. Unfortunately, most cases are discovered when the cancer is already advanced, missing the opportunity for surgical resection. Thus, an improved understanding of the mechanisms responsible for liver cancer initiation and progression will facilitate the detection of more reliable tumor markers and the development of new small molecules for targeted therapy of liver cancer. Recently, there is increasing evidence for the “cancer stem cell hypothesis”, which postulates that liver cancer originates from the malignant transformation of liver stem/progenitor cells (liver cancer stem cells). This cancer stem cell model has important significance for understanding the basic biology of liver cancer and has profound importance for the development of new strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the role of liver stem cells in hepatocarcinogenesis. Our review of the literature shows that identification of the cellular origin and the signaling pathways involved is challenging issues in liver cancer with pivotal implications in therapeutic perspectives. Although the dedifferentiation of mature hepatocytes/cholangiocytes in hepatocarcinogenesis cannot be excluded, neoplastic transformation of a stem cell subpopulation more easily explains hepatocarcinogenesis. Elimination of liver cancer stem cells in liver cancer could result in the degeneration of downstream cells, which makes them potential targets for liver cancer therapies. Therefore, liver stem cells could represent a new target for therapeutic approaches to liver cancer in the near future.     

Up-regulation of ADRP in fatty liver in human and liver steatosis in mice fed with high fat diet

The present study was performed to examine a role of adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP) in the process of liver steatosis. Immunohistochemical findings indicated that ADRP expression is increased in the hepatocytes in patients with fatty liver when compared with normal liver. ADRP expression is localized in the surface of lipid droplets in the hepatocytes. Increased expression of ADRP mRNA and protein was similarly observed in fatty liver in ob/ob mice and the liver steatosis induced by high fat diet in mice. The up-regulation of ADRP mRNA and protein in the liver by high fat diet was identified in the surface of lipid droplets in a time-dependent manner. Recent studies demonstrated that up-regulation of PPARgamma in the hepatocytes is deeply involved in liver steatosis. To clarify whether ADRP expression is increased by PPARgamma activation in hepatocytes, we examined the effect of a PPARgamma ligand, troglitazone, on ADRP mRNA expression in HepG2 cells. ADRP mRNA expression was increased by troglitazone in dose- and time-dependent manners. All these results suggest that ADRP is up-regulated in liver steatosis in human and mice, and that high fat diet increases expression of ADRP through PPARgamma activation, followed by induction of liver steatosis.     

Hippo信号通路与肝脏稳态调控及疾病发生

肝脏是人体最重要的器官之一,乙肝等病毒性与酒精等非病毒性因素诱发的肝损伤引起肝脏功能衰竭、再生重塑障碍、肝癌等疾病是我国重大社会健康问题,因此,研究肝脏稳态的调控机制对肝病的预防和临床治疗至关重要。Hippo信号通路参与了哺乳动物多种细胞和器官的稳态调控。最近研究表明,Hippo信号通路在肝脏发育、肝细胞命运决定、肝脏再生和癌症发生发展等过程中都发挥了非常重要的作用。因此,Hippo信号通路可成为肝脏相关疾病的治疗提供了新的靶点。本文综述了Hippo信号通路与肝脏稳态调控的相关研究及最新进展,以期为研究肝脏发育和肝脏相关疾病的治疗提供新的思路和策略。     

Liver Transplantation in Man—I,Observations on Technique and Organization in Five Cases

In view of the extreme sensitivity of the human liver to ischaemic damage, the organization of clinical transplantation is of necessity complicated. From our preliminary experience of five human liver allografts we feel that active collaboration between hospitals is essential in order to practise human liver transplantation. It is unnecessary and undesirable to interfere in any way with potential liver donors. Nevertheless, the nature of the surgical technique requires that the liver is cooled within 15 minutes of death if satisfactory function is to result in the grafted organ.This report describes technical difficulties that were encountered which can limit successful liver transplantation. The first patient was in severe liver failure and had an accessory liver graft in the splenic fossa after splenectomy. This liver suffered irreversible ischaemic damage, which led to an uncontrollable haemorrhagic state with exsanguination that resulted in death the day after operation. The second patient, a 10-month-old infant with biliary atresia and liver failure, died from cardiac arrest shortly after the operation.The remaining three transplants developed good initial function. One patient survived 11 weeks, and one has returned to work.     

小鼠肝部分切除模型

小鼠肝部分切除模型是在经典的大鼠模型基础上发展起来的。随着显微外科技术的发展和小鼠腹部手术围手术期管理的完善,快速、可靠、重复性高的小鼠模型得以建立。因为成本较低,且存在大量为研究肝切除后肝再生的转基因小鼠,小鼠已经成为研究肝再生的重要动物模型。肝再生的调控相当复杂,且不是由单一因素控制的,因此需要多种类的转基因小鼠进行肝切除后肝再生研究来明确各因子在肝再生过程中的确切作用与机制。通过小鼠肝切除后肝再生的研究,目前已证实的参与调控肝再生的细胞因子和生长因子有:肝再生增强因子(ALR)、肿瘤坏死因子α(TNFα)、白介素6(IL-6)、白介素1(IL-1)、肝细胞生长因子(HGF)、去甲肾上腺素(NE)、卵泡抑素(FS)、转化生长因子α(TGF-α)、转化生长因子β-1(TGF-β-1)等。     

Plasma lysophosphatidic acid level and serum autotaxin activity are increased in liver injury in rats in relation to its severity

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a lipid mediator with multiple biological actions. We have reported that LPA stimulates hepatic stellate cell proliferation and inhibits DNA synthesis in hepatocytes, suggesting that LPA might play some role in the liver. We have found that plasma LPA level and serum autotaxin (ATX) activity were increased in patients with chronic hepatitis C. However, the clinical significance of LPA and its synthetic enzyme, autotaxin (ATX), is still unclear. To determine whether the increase of plasma LPA level and serum ATX activity might be found generally in liver injury, we examined the possible modulation of them in the blood in rats with various liver injuries. Plasma LPA level and serum ATX activity were increased in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis correlatively with fibrosis grade, in dimethylnitrosamine-induced acute liver injury correlatively with serum alanine aminotransferase level or in 70% hepatectomy as early as 3 h after the operation. Plasma LPA level was correlated with serum ATX activity in rats with chronic and acute liver injury. ATX mRNA in the liver was not altered in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis. Plasma LPA level and serum ATX activity are increased in various liver injuries in relation to their severity. Whether increased ATX and LPA in the blood in liver injury is simply a result or also a cause of the injury should be further clarified.     

DNAase-I-hypersensitive sites in the mouse albumin gene

We have analyzed the DNAase I sensitivity of the mouse alpha-fetoprotein and albumin structural genes from fetal liver, adult liver and kidney. The albumin gene shows distinct hypersensitive sites in adult liver in addition to an overall DNAase I sensitivity, but is only slightly nuclease-sensitive in fetal liver. The alpha-fetoprotein gene does not show hypersensitive sites but displays an overall DNAase I sensitivity in fetal liver; however, it is nuclease-insensitive in adult liver. Both genes are insensitive to DNAase I in kidney. The presence of DNAase-I-hypersensitive sites in the albumin structural gene correlates with extensive demethylation of the gene in adult liver.     

Thy-1 is an in vivo and in vitro marker of liver myofibroblasts

Thy-1, a glycophosphatidylinositol-linked glycoprotein of the outer membrane leaflet, has been described in myofibroblasts of several organs. Previous studies have shown that, in fetal liver, Thy-1 is expressed in a subpopulation of ductular/progenitor cells. The aim of this study has been to investigate whether the liver myofibroblasts belong to the Thy-1-positive subpopulation of the adult liver. The expression of Thy-1 has been studied in normal rat liver, in the rat liver regeneration model following 2-acetylaminofluorene treatment and partial hepatectomy (AAF/PH), and in isolated rat liver cells, at the mRNA and protein levels. In normal rat liver, Thy-1 is detected in sparse cells of the periportal area, whereas 7 days after PH in the AAF/PH model, a marked increase of the number of Thy-1-positive cells is detectable by immunohistochemistry. Comparative immunohistochemical analysis has revealed the co-localization of Thy-1 and smooth muscle actin, but not of Thy-1 and cytokeratin-19, both in normal rat liver and in the AAF/PH model. Investigation of isolated rat liver cell populations has confirmed that liver myofibroblasts are Thy-1-positive cells, whereas hepatocytes, hepatic stellate cells, and liver macrophages are not. Thy-1 is the first cell surface marker for identifying liver myofibroblasts in vivo and in vitro. Jozsef Dudas and Tümen Mansuroglu contributed equally to this study. This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 402, projects C6, D3, D4).     

Cell-matrix interactions in liver

Studies of cell-matrix interaction in liver have demonstrated the biological impact of extracellular matrix on the structure and function of liver cells, both parenchymal and mesenchymal. Much of the work involves cell culture models, in which either hepatocytes or non-parenchymal liver cells are plated on various extracellular matrix proteins and the expression of tissue-specific function is assessed. The data suggest that a basement membrane-like matrix exists within the perisinusoidal space and is critical to the maintenance of normal liver function. There are reservations concerning the accuracy of cell-culture models with respect to the intact liver, in that the precise composition and structure of this matrix still is uncertain. Nonetheless, work to date has added a new dimension to the role of the extracellular matrix of the normal liver and a new appreciation of the potential impact of pathologically altered matrix ('fibrosis') in liver disease.     

Liver-like alkaline phosphatase in the tissue-unspecific type enzyme found in rabbit organs

Rabbit liver and kidney tissues are known to produce an intestinal-like alkaline phosphatase (IAP-like enzyme) as a dominant isozyme, with a minor isozyme of tissue-unspecific type (UAP), unlike humans and other mammalians. We investigated immunohistochemically and biochemically these unique isozymes in the rabbit liver and bone, and compared them with the human isozyme. In rabbit liver, UAP was found to be localized only in the apical part of the membrane of cells lining the bile duct, whereas IAP-like enzyme was found in the sinusoidal membrane of hepatocytes. Rabbit liver UAP was separated from IAP-like enzyme by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. Rabbit bone tissue contained only one UAP isozyme. The two UAPs were biochemically and physicochemically compared with human liver AP. Both UAPs reacted with an anti-human liver AP monoclonal antibody, not with an anti-human bone AP monoclonal antibody, indicating that both enzymes have the same antigenicity as human liver AP. Rabbit liver and bone UAPs had similar N-linked sugar-chain heterogeneities to the respective human enzymes. In addition, rabbit bone AP also had an O-linked sugar chain, as did human bone AP, unlike rabbit and human liver APs.     

肝脏免疫系统在酒精性肝损伤中的作用启示

酒精性肝病的致病因素是单一,但其发病机制复杂,目前尚不完全清楚。肝脏免疫系统被认为是独特的免疫系统,其作用越来越引起重视。肝内既有参与外周循环的淋巴细胞,也有长期定居于此的免疫细胞;加上肝脏解剖结构和血液循环的特殊性决定了肝脏独特的免疫微环境。研究肝脏免疫系统在酒精性肝病发病机制的作用,将有助于进一步阐明酒精性肝病发病机制,为酒精性肝病的预防和治疗提供新的靶点。     

Reproductive performance and fatty liver in Guernsey cows

The relationship between fatty liver and reproductive performance was investigated in a commercial herd of Guernsey dairy cattle. Forty-two cows were sampled by liver biopsy at 1 week after calving, and divided into two groups, a fatty liver and a non-fatty liver group, on the basis of the level of liver fat. The cows in the fatty liver group had a milk yield of 5267 kg and a calving interval of 428 days compared with 4407 kg and 369 days for the cows in the non-fatty liver group. The reduced fertility was associated with an elongation in the interval from calving to first service of 20 days and with a reduced conception rate. The occurrence of fatty liver significantly impaired the reproductive performance of the cows.