Browsing by Subject "Hepatocytes"

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    Effects of total replacement of fish oil by vegetable oils on n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid desaturation and elongation in sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo) hepatocytes and enterocytes
    (Elsevier, 2007-11-26) Almaida Pagán, Pedro Francisco; Hernandez, M. D.; García García, B.; Madrid, Juan A.; Costa, J. de; Mendiola, P.; Fisiología
    The main aim of this work was to determine the impact of total dietary fish oil replacement by vegetable oils on the fatty acid metabolism of sharpsnout seabream hepatocytes and digestive tract enterocytes. Three isonitrogenous (48% crude protein) and isoenergetic (23 MJ/kg) experimental diets were formulated using three different lipid sources: fish oil (FO), rich in n-3 HUFAs; soybean oil (SO), rich in linoleic acid (LA), and linseed oil (LO), especially rich in linolenic acid (LNA). These diets were fed, three times a day to apparent satiation, to triplicate groups of 30 sharpsnout seabream (with an initial average weight of 14.9 g) for nine months at 23.5±1.2 °C. Inclusion of vegetable oils in sharpsnout seabream diet did not have any quantitative nutritional effects on desaturation/elongation of [1-14C] LNA and [1-14C] LA in isolated hepatocytes and total digestive tract enterocytes. Most of the radioactivity found in tissue lipid extracts (94% and 86% for hepatocytes and enterocytes, respectively) using silver nitrate thin-layer chromatography was recovered as [1-14C] C18 PUFA, clearly showing the lack of any significant desaturase/elongase activity in these cells. Only the high levels of HUFA in fish tissues pointed to the existence of some kind of regulatory mechanism, presumably based on HUFA bioaccumulation and C18 PUFA oxidation. Moreover, direct measurements of β-oxidation rates yielded very low values in all cases, the only significant difference being a higher oxidation rate in hepatocytes from fish fed LO versus FO diet.
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    Liver gender dimorphism - insights from quantitative morphology
    (Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2015) Marcos, Ricardo; Correia Gomes, Carla; Miranda, Helena; Carneiro, Fatima
    It was shown recently that many genes are differentially expressed in the liver of males and females, thus strengthening the concept of liver gender dimorphism. This dimorphism exists in many pathological scenarios, from regeneration to fibrosis, which has led to the development of gender hepatology. Nevertheless, it is still unknown if gender dimorphism occurs in the structure of the normal liver. In recent years, it has been shown that, compared with male, the female rat liver bears less fibrotic tissue, more Kupffer cells (per volume unit) and has higher hepatocellularity, including binucleated hepatocytes (per volume unit). Our hypothesis is that the human liver also hides a gender dimorphic pattern. Baseline differences in fibrotic tissue would contribute to explain severe liver fibrosis in men. As to the disparity of Kupffer cells, this would clarify the stronger response to post-surgery infections in women, and it could be equated when appraising the higher susceptibility to alcohol. Regarding differences in hepatocytes, they not only justify existing differences in some liver parameters (e.g., transaminases and bilirubin), but they could also account for the higher regenerative potential of the female liver. The structural dimorphism in the human liver would sustain the concept of gender hepatology and, eventually, should be considered in the context of liver transplantation.
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    Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides induce MAP kinases activation in murine TIB-73 hepatocytes
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2010) Chicano Saura, Antonio; Ruiz Alcaraz, Antonio José; Lizana, Ana; Martín-Orozco Santiago, María Elena; Ruiz Alcaraz, Antonio José
    Aims: In this work we aimed to investigate the expression of TLR9 protein in the murine hepatocyte cell line TIB-73, compared to macrophage-like J774 cells, by Western blot analysis, and the role played by ERK 1/2 MAP kinase in the intracellular signals triggered by stimulation with CpG and non-CpG phosphodiester-ODN, and their more stable phosphorothioate-modified analogues. Results: TIB-73 hepatocytes express TLR9 protein. CpG and non-CpG ODN stimulation activated ERK 1/2 MAPK signal pathway in both hepatocytes and J774 murine macrophages. As expected, their phosphorothioate-CpG and non-CpG ODN analogues induced higher levels of ERK1/2 phosphorylation in TIB-73 cells, even higher than that induced in J774 cells under the same conditions. Phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 induced by synthetic ODN is dose-response dependent, being maximal at 100 µg/ml. Pretreatment of hepatocytes with an inhibitor of MEK-1 abrogated phosphorylation of ERK1/2 kinase. Conclusions: TIB-73 hepatocytes constitutively express TLR9 and respond to synthetic ODN stimulation through a high ERK1/2 phosphorylation independent of CpG motifs. Slight differences were found on ERK1/2 activation when using phosphorothioate versus phosphodiester oligonucleotides.
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    The degradation of glycogen in the lysosomes of newborn rat hepatocytes: glycogen-, maltose- and isomaltose-hydrolyzing acid alpha glucosidase activities in liver
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 1999) Kalamidas, Stefanos; Kotoulas, Othon B.
    The lysosomal glucosidase activities and glycogen degradation in newborn rat liver were studied by using biochemical assays, electron microscopy and quantitative morphometry. Glycogen-hydrolyzing, maltose-hydrolyzing and isomaltose-hydrolyzing activities were low at birth but increased afterwards. At the age of 6 hours they were markedly elevated. Actinomycin prevented the development of glucosidase activities indicating that these depend on protein synthesis. Parenteral glucose inhibited all three activities. This was apparently due to the abolition of normal postnatal hypoglycemia and the need for blood glucose. Cyclic AMP increased the glycogen-hydrolyzing but not the maltose-hydrolyzing activity. Propranolol inhibited the glycogen-hydrolyzing but not the maltose-hydrolyzing activity. The observations of this study provide further support for the hypothesis made by previous investigators that these activities are due to different enzymes.