1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A ROLE OF EPIMORPHIN IN LIVER REGENERATION
| Project/Area Number |
08670623
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Gastroenterology
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Juntendo University School of Medicine |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
HIROSE Miyoko Juntendo Univ. Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (70266039)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
WATANABE Sumio Juntendo Univ. Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (20138225)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1997
|
| Keywords | epimorphin / liver regeneration / Ito cell / differentiation / organization |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
It is well known that various kind of factors, such as growth factors, cytokines, are indispensable for hepatocyte regeneration and liver restoration after liver injury. A novel mesenchymal protein, epimorphin, acts as a signal molecule for epithelial morphogenesis.We studied the effects of epimorphin as a morphogen on hepatocytes regeneration after liver injury.
1) The expression of epimorphin protein and mRNA was examined with mouse livers after 70% partial hepatectomy (PHX) or CCl_4 injection and human liver specimens from surgical resection. Human epimorphin was stained weakly on the surface of Ito cells of normal liver and stained strongly along fibrotic area of cirrhotic liver. On PHX and CCl_4 injected mine, both of protein and mRNA increased at the late stage of hepatocytes multiplication after liver injury.
2) To evaluate the direct effects of epimorphin to hepatocytes, isolated rat hepatocytes were cultured on epimorphin-coated dishes. The cells were aggregated and gradually formed hepatocytes spheroids which have various function differentiated such as albumin products or bile secression.
These results suggest that epimorphin may participate in liver reconstruction and differentiation after liver injury.
|
