| Abstract: | The induction of malic enzyme gene expression by triiodothyronine and insulin was severely blunted in rat monolayer hepatocytes cultured on type I collagen compared with that in spherical hepatocytes cultured on a reconstituted basement membrane gel (EHS-gel). Although the mRNA level of thyroid hormone receptor β (TRβ) gradually decreased in the monolayer hepatocytes during culture, the mRNA level in the hepatocytes on EHS-gel was maintained at around the in vivo level. Our results suggest that the maintenance of TRβ mRNA on EHS-gel is responsible for the high responsiveness to thyroid hormone in a hepatocyte culture. |
