Search results for "hepatocyte"
showing 10 items of 369 documents
Transcriptional Regulation of Human CYP3A4 Basal Expression by CCAAT Enhancer-Binding Protein α and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor-3γ
2003
Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is involved in the metabolism of more than 50% of currently used therapeutic drugs, yet the mechanisms that control CYP3A4 basal expression in liver are poorly understood. Several putative binding sites for CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) and hepatic nuclear factor 3 (HNF-3) were found by computer analysis in CYP3A4 promoter. The use of reporter gene assays, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and site-directed mutagenesis revealed that one proximal and two distal C/EBP alpha binding sites are essential sites for the trans-activation of CYP3A4 promoter. No trans-activation was found in similar reporter gene experiments with a HNF-3 gamma expression vec…
Transfection of Primary Hepatocytes with Liver-Enriched Transcription Factors Using Adenoviral Vectors
2014
Primary cultured hepatocytes are probably the best model to study endogenous metabolic pathways, toxicity, or drug metabolism. Many of these studies require expression of ectopic genes. It would be desirable to use a method of transfection that allows dose-response studies, high efficiency of transfection, and the possibility to express several genes at the same time. Adenoviral vectors fulfill these requirements, becoming a valuable tool for primary hepatocyte transfection. Moreover, they are easy to generate and do not require a high level of biocontainment. In the present chapter, we describe the generation, cloning, amplification, and purification of an adenoviral vector capable of infe…
Hydrodynamic liver gene transfer mechanism involves transient sinusoidal blood stasis and massive hepatocyte endocytic vesicles
2005
The present study contributes to clarify the mechanism underlying the high efficacy of hepatocyte gene transfer mediated by hydrodynamic injection. Gene transfer experiments were performed employing the hAAT gene, and the efficacy and differential identification in mouse plasma of human transgene versus mouse gene was assessed by ELISA and proteomic procedures, respectively. By applying different experimental strategies such as cumulative dose-response efficacy, hemodynamic changes reflected by venous pressures, intravital microscopy, and morphological changes established by transmission electron microscopy, we found that: (a) cumulative multiple doses of transgene by hydrodynamic injection…
Improving the Techniques for Human Hepatocyte Transplantation: Report from a Consensus Meeting in London
2012
On September 6 and 7, 2009 a meeting was held in London to identify and discuss what are perceived to be current roadblocks to effective hepatocyte transplantation as it is currently practiced in the clinics and, where possible, to offer suggestions to overcome the blocks and improve the outcomes for this cellular therapy. Present were representatives of most of the active clinical hepatocyte transplant programs along with other scientists who have contributed substantial basic research to this field. Over the 2-day sessions based on the experience of the participants, numerous roadblocks or challenges were identified, including the source of cells for the transplants and problems with tra…
Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells differentiation towards hepatocyte-like cells: functional characterization and expression of immunomodulatory …
2012
p38 MAPK: A dual role in hepatocyte proliferation through reactive oxygen species
2013
p38 MAPKs are important mediators of signal transduction that respond to a wide range of extracellular stressors such as UV radiation, osmotic shock, hypoxia, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress. The most abundant family member is p38α, which helps to couple cell proliferation and growth in response to certain damaging stimuli. In fact, increased proliferation and impaired differentiation are hallmarks of p38α-deficient cells. It has been reported that reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a critical role in cytokine-induced p38α activation. Under physiological conditions, p38α can function as a mediator of ROS signaling and either activate or suppress cell cycle progression depen…
A newin vitroapproach for the simultaneous determination of phase I and phase II enzymatic activities of human hepatocyte preparations
2007
Primary hepatocytes are still the best qualified in vitro system to anticipate drug metabolism in man. Recent advances in hepatocytes cryopreservation have notably increased their use not only for drug metabolism studies, but also for other applications such as cell transplantation. Evaluation of the drug-metabolizing competence of each hepatocytes preparation is needed. To date, the metabolic characterization of hepatocytes preparations relies on the assessment of phase I activities and the role of phase II enzymes receives little attention. A novel approach for the rapid assessment of the metabolic functionality of hepatocytes has been developed. A five-probe cocktail was used to simultan…
Involvement of Peroxynitrite on the Early Loss of P450 in Short-Term Hepatocyte Cultures
2001
The biological chemistry of nitric oxide (NO) in the oxygenated cellular environment is extremely complex. It involves the direct interaction of NO with specific biomolecules and the so-called indirect effects, due to secondary more potent oxidant species derived from NO which are also able to react with DNA, lipids, thiols and transition metals (Wink et al. 1996; Nathan, 1992). In addition to its regulatory role as a signalling molecule (Nathan, 1992; Moncada and Palmer, 1991) it has become evident that NO (or NO-derived species) is a critical factor involved in various toxicological mechanisms (Wink et al. 1996; Wang et al. 1998; Estevez et al. 1999; Wink et al. 1999). Some controversy ex…
Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into hepatocyte-like cells: functional characterization and expression of immunomodulatory mol…
2015
Mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton’s jelly (WJ-MSCs) recently emerged as promising tools for cellular therapy due to their ability to differentiate into diverse cell types and their immunomodulatory features. Little is known on the expression of immunomodulatory molecules in mature cells differentiated from WJ-MSCs, therefore we aimed to characterize the extent of maintenance of the naive traits of these cells also in a highly specialized differentiated counterpart. WJ-MSCs were differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) with a four weeks protocol. RT-PCR, flow cytometry, IHC and ICC were performed to assess expression of key markers in both undifferentiated and differentiate…