Shiojiri Nobuyoshi, Niwa Tohru, Sugiyama Yoshinori, Koike Toru
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, Oya 836, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan.
Cell Tissue Res. 2006 Jun;324(3):547-52. doi: 10.1007/s00441-006-0165-9. Epub 2006 Feb 28.
Hepatic blood vessels consist of the hepatic artery and three types of venous channels (the portal veins, the sinusoids, and the hepatic veins). This study was undertaken to analyze, by immunohistochemistry, connexin expression throughout the vascular development of the fetal mouse liver with special attention being given to portal vein development. In the adult liver, connexin37 and connexin40 were expressed in the endothelium of the portal vein and hepatic artery, but not in those of the hepatic vein and sinusoids. Connexin43 was expressed in mesothelial cells and smooth muscle cells of the portal veins. The preferential expression of connexin37 and connexin40 in portal veins was seen throughout liver development, including its primordium formation stage (10.5-day or 11.5-day stage), although connexin37 expression was transiently seen in free nonparenchymal cells in fetal stages. The differentiation of each blood vessel in the hepatic vascular system may occur in early developmental stages, soon after hepatic primordium formation.
肝血管由肝动脉和三种静脉通道（门静脉、肝血窦和肝静脉）组成。本研究旨在通过免疫组织化学分析胎鼠肝脏血管发育过程中连接蛋白的表达情况，特别关注门静脉的发育。在成年肝脏中，连接蛋白37和连接蛋白40表达于门静脉和肝动脉的内皮细胞，但在肝静脉和肝血窦的内皮细胞中不表达。连接蛋白43表达于门静脉的间皮细胞和平滑肌细胞。在整个肝脏发育过程中，包括其原基形成阶段（10.5天或11.5天阶段），均可观察到连接蛋白37和连接蛋白40在门静脉中的优先表达，尽管在胎儿阶段游离的非实质细胞中可短暂观察到连接蛋白37的表达。肝血管系统中各血管的分化可能在肝脏原基形成后不久的早期发育阶段发生。
