Project description:Metformin is effective for prevention or treatment of various tumors. There are a lot of studies on the underlying mechanisms of metformin as respect to its anti-tumor action. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying the anti-tumor effects of metformin on LoVo cells. Human derived LoVo cells were treated with metformin (10mM) for 8 and 24h, and the control and treated cells were harvested for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.The samples were grouped as Met8h, Met24h, Con8h, and Con24h, respectively.
Project description:Primary human hepatocytes were treated with compounds modulating steatosis: palmitic acid, compound C and metformin qPCR miRNA expression profiling. Hepatocytes were treated as indicated in the summary. Equal amount total RNA was pooled prior to miRNA expression analysis
Project description:Liver transplantation is the only therapeutic option for patients with end-stage liver disease. The shortage of donor organs has led to the search for alternative therapies to restore liver function and bridge patients to transplantation. Our previous work has shown that the proliferation of late gestation E19 fetal hepatocytes is mitogen-independent. This is manifested as differences in the control of ribosome biogenesis, global translation, cell cycle progression and gene expression. In the present study, we investigated whether E19 fetal hepatocytes would engraft and repopulate an injured adult liver. Methods: Fetal hepatocytes were isolated using a monoclonal antibody against a hepatic surface protein, leucine amino peptidase (LAP). LAP+ and LAP- fractions were analyzed by immunofluorescence and microarray. Immunopurified E19 liver cells from DPPIV+ F344 rats were transplanted via splenic injection into partial hepatectomized DPPIV- rats that had been pretreated with mitomycin C. Results: Phenotypic characterization of the LAP+ fetal hepatocytes revealed that more than a third of the isolated cells expressed ductal markers. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that these dual expressing cells represent a distinct subpopulation of less well differentiated hepatocytes. Transplanted immunopurified LAP+ late gestation fetal hepatocytes formed small hepatic, endothelial and occasional ductal colonies within one month. The average size of the colonies derived from the LAP+ cells increased so that by 10 months up to 35% of the liver was repopulated by donor-derived cells. Conclusions: Our studies show that late gestation fetal hepatocytes, despite their being far along in the differentiation process, possess the capacity for extensive liver repopulation. This is likely related to the unexpected presence of a significant proportion of hepatocyte marker-positive cells maintaining a less well differentiated phenotype.
Project description:To analyze stem/progenitor cell function, we purified hepatocytes derived from adult livers and fetal hepatoblasts derived from embryonic day 13 livers. Compared gene expression in E13 hepatoblasts and adult hepatocytes derived from C57BL/6NCr mice
Project description:Despite being the frontline therapy for Type 2 diabetes, the mechanisms of action of the biguanide drug metformin are still being discovered. In particular, the detailed molecular interplays between the AMPK and the mTORC1 pathway in the hepatic benefits of metformin are still ill-defined. Metformin-dependent activation of AMPK classically inhibits mTORC1 via TSC/RHEB. But several lines of evidence suggest additional mechanisms at play in metformin inhibition of mTORC1. Here we investigated the role of direct AMPK-mediated serine phosphorylation of RAPTOR in a new RaptorAA mouse model, in which AMPK phospho-serine sites Ser722 and Ser792 of RAPTOR were mutated to alanine. Metformin treatment of primary hepatocytes and intact murine liver requires AMPK regulation of both RAPTOR and TSC2 to fully inhibit mTORC1, and this regulation is critical for the translational response to metformin.
Project description:To analyze stem/progenitor cell function, we purified hepatocytes derived from adult livers and fetal hepatoblasts derived from embryonic day 13 livers.
