Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-5-1
pubmed:abstractText
The hepatocytes in the mature normal liver are tightly coupled through gap junctions, except during compensatory hyperplasia (regeneration) after partial hepatectomy when the gap junctions become down-regulated. The significance of this down-regulation has been a long-standing enigma. The present study of hepatocytes in primary culture and in the regenerating liver aimed at defining the relationship, if any, between hepatocyte gap junctional communication and proliferation. Gap junctional down-regulation in the regenerating liver appeared to be a specific phenomenon because desmosomes and the surface contact area between neighboring hepatocytes remained constant. All agents and conditions (dexamethasone in vivo; dexamethasone, cyclic adenosine monophosphate, serum, and high cell density in vitro) delaying gap junctional down-regulation also increased the lag before the cells reached competence to enter S phase. This raised the possibility that hepatocyte DNA replication was inhibited through preservation of gap junctions. However, we disproved this assumption by showing that the DNA replication (more specifically the G1/S transition rate constant) was inhibited even in hepatocytes completely devoid of gap junctional communication. The teleological advantage of linking gap junctional down-regulation to hepatocyte G1 progression therefore may not be to trigger DNA replication but to ensure that proliferating hepatocytes and hepatocytes responsible for liver-specific metabolic functions maintain separate pools of metabolites and signaling molecules.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0270-9139
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
25
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
847-55
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1997
pubmed:articleTitle
Gap junctions and growth control in liver regeneration and in isolated rat hepatocytes.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Bergen, Norway.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, In Vitro, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't