Wang Fei, Bei Yihua, Zhao Yingying, Song Yang, Xiao Junjie, Yang Changqing
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Digestive Disease Institute, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Cell Physiol Biochem. 2015;36(1):250-8. doi: 10.1159/000374068. Epub 2015 May 4.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: We previously documented the presence of Telocytes (TCs) in liver and further indicated the potential roles of TCs in liver regeneration after hepatectomy. Pregnancy-induced liver growth, other than liver regeneration after hepatectomy, is a physiological hepatic adaption to meet the enhanced nutritional and metabolic demands. However, the possible roles of TCs in pregnancy-induced liver growth remain unknown.
Pregnant mice were sacrificed at different time points (pregnancy day 0.5, 4.5, 8.5, 10.5, 12.5, 14.5, 16.5, and 18.5). The liver weight was used to evaluate the liver growth during pregnancy. Hepatocytes proliferation was determined by albumin and 5-ethynyl-2'- deoxyuridine (EdU) double immunostaining while TCs were counted by double immunolabeling for CD34/PDGFR-α.
Pregnancy-induced liver growth was preceded by increased proliferation of hepatocytes at pregnancy day 4.5, 8.5, 14.5 and 16.5. Furthermore, the number of TCs in liver detected by double immunolabeling for CD34/PDGFR-α was significantly increased at pregnancy day 4.5 and day 14.5, that was coincident with the occurrence of two peaks of hepatic cell proliferation during pregnancy.
Our results suggest a possible relationship between TCs and hepatocyte proliferation in pregnancy-induced liver growth.
背景/目的：我们之前已证明肝组织中存在端粒细胞（TCs），并进一步指出了TCs在肝切除术后肝脏再生中的潜在作用。除肝切除术后的肝脏再生外，妊娠诱导的肝脏生长是一种生理性肝脏适应，以满足增加的营养和代谢需求。然而，TCs在妊娠诱导的肝脏生长中的可能作用仍不清楚。
在不同时间点（妊娠第0.5、4.5、8.5、10.5、12.5、14.5、16.5和18.5天）处死妊娠小鼠。用肝脏重量评估妊娠期间的肝脏生长情况。通过白蛋白和5-乙炔基-2'-脱氧尿苷（EdU）双重免疫染色测定肝细胞增殖，同时通过CD34/血小板衍生生长因子受体-α（PDGFR-α）双重免疫标记计数TCs。
在妊娠第4.5、8.5,、14.5和16.5天，肝细胞增殖增加先于妊娠诱导的肝脏生长。此外，通过CD34/PDGFR-α双重免疫标记检测到的肝脏中TCs数量在妊娠第4.5天和第14.5天显著增加，这与妊娠期间肝细胞增殖的两个高峰的出现一致。
我们的结果表明，在妊娠诱导的肝脏生长中，TCs与肝细胞增殖之间可能存在关联。
