Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1995-5-19
pubmed:abstractText
Isolated hepatocytes from the marine vertebrate Raja erinacea (the little skate) retain their structural and functional integrity as clusters of cells formed around a single tubular bile canaliculus, and therefore can be used as a model of polarized hepatocytes in situ. In this study we used confocal and conventional epifluorescence microscopy in conjunction with fluorescent markers and immunocytochemistry to examine the structure and function of the cytoskeleton in these cells. Actin filaments in the hepatocyte clusters were found cortically and also concentrated in a pericanalicular array, while microtubules appeared to radiate away from a concentration near the apical membrane of the biliary pole towards the basolateral sinusoidal surfaces. Treatment of clusters with the microtubule disrupting agent, nocodazole, resulted in the microtubules depolymerizing from the basolateral surfaces towards the apical surface, indicating that the microtubules were oriented with their plus ends at the basolateral surface and their minus ends at the apical surface. Nocodazole was also found to disrupt the ability of clusters to transcytose a fluorescent bile salt derivative into their canalicular lumens. We detected cytoplasmic dynein in skate hepatocyte homogenates by Western blotting using an anti-dynein intermediate chain antibody, and immunofluorescent staining of intact hepatocytes revealed a punctate vesicular pattern. The polarized arrangement of microtubules, the presence of cytoplasmic dynein, and the inhibition of bile salt secretion by nocodozole are consistent with the microtubule cytoskeleton playing a fundamental role in the mediation of transcytosis, endocytosis, and bile excretory function in these hepatocytes. These polarized isolated skate hepatocytes represent an excellent experimental model for the in vitro study of hepatic transport, and allow for important comparative studies aimed at elucidating the evolutionarily conserved nature of various hepatocyte structures amongst the vertebrates.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Mar
pubmed:issn
0022-104X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
1
pubmed:volume
271
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
273-84
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-19
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1995
pubmed:articleTitle
Cytoskeletal organization in clusters of isolated polarized skate hepatocytes: structural and functional evidence for microtubule-dependent transcytosis.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Biology, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, In Vitro, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't