Department of Medicine, Division Gastroenterology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College of Medicine, TX, USA.
Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2013 May;238(5):549-65. doi: 10.1177/1535370213489926.
This review focuses on the recent advances related to the heterogeneity of different-sized bile ducts with regard to the morphological and phenotypical characteristics, and the differential secretory, apoptotic and proliferative responses of small and large cholangiocytes to gastrointestinal hormones/peptides, neuropeptides and toxins. We describe several in vivo and in vitro models used for evaluating biliary heterogeneity. Subsequently, we discuss the heterogeneous proliferative and apoptotic responses of small and large cholangiocytes to liver injury and the mechanisms regulating the differentiation of small into large (more differentiated) cholangiocytes. Following a discussion on the heterogeneity of stem/progenitor cells in the biliary epithelium, we outline the heterogeneity of bile ducts in human cholangiopathies. After a summary section, we discuss the future perspectives that will further advance the field of the functional heterogeneity of the biliary epithelium.
这篇综述重点介绍了不同大小胆管在形态和表型特征方面的异质性，以及小和大胆管细胞对胃肠激素/肽、神经肽和毒素的分泌、凋亡和增殖反应的差异。我们描述了几种用于评估胆管异质性的体内和体外模型。随后，我们讨论了小和大胆管细胞对肝损伤的增殖和凋亡反应的异质性，以及调节小胆管细胞分化为大（更分化）胆管细胞的机制。在讨论了胆管上皮中的干细胞/祖细胞的异质性之后，我们概述了人类胆管疾病中胆管的异质性。在总结部分，我们讨论了未来的展望，这将进一步推动胆管上皮功能异质性领域的发展。
