DiProspero Thomas J, Brown Lauren G, Fachko Trevor D, Lockett Matthew R
Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States.
Chemistry, Univeristy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States.
Drug Metab Dispos. 2022 Jun 14;50(8):1098-105. doi: 10.1124/dmd.122.000870.
The cellular microenvironment plays an important role in liver zonation, the spatial distribution of metabolic tasks amongst hepatocytes lining the sinusoid. Standard tissue culture practices provide an excess of oxygen and a lack of signaling molecules typically found in the liver. We hypothesized that incorporating physiologically relevant environments would promote post-differentiation patterning of hepatocytes and result in zonal-like characteristics. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the transcriptional regulation and activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes in HepaRG cells exposed to three different oxygen tensions, in the presence or absence of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The drug-metabolizing activity of cells exposed to representative periportal (11% O) or perivenous (5% O) oxygen tensions were significantly less than cells exposed to ambient oxygen. A comparison of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2, 2D6, and 3A4 activity at PP and PV oxygen tensions showed significant increases at the lower oxygen tension. The activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway only modestly impacted CYP activity at PV oxygen tension, despite a significant increase in expression under this condition. Our results suggest oxygen tension is the major contributor to zonal patterning in HepaRG cells, with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway playing a lesser albeit important role. Our datasets also highlight the importance of including activity-based assays, as transcript data alone does not provide an accurate picture of metabolic competence. This work investigates the post-differentiation patterning of HepaRG cells cultured at physiologically relevant oxygen tensions, in the presence and absence of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. HepaRG cells exposed to periportal (11% O) or perivenous (5% O) oxygen tensions display zonation-like patterning of both cytochrome P450 (CYP) and glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes. These datasets also suggest that oxygen is a primary regulator of post-differentiation patterning, with Wnt/β-catenin having a lesser effect on activity but a significant effect on transcriptional regulation of these enzymes.
细胞微环境在肝小叶分区中起着重要作用,肝小叶分区是指在肝血窦内衬的肝细胞之间代谢任务的空间分布。标准的组织培养方法提供了过量的氧气,且缺乏肝脏中通常存在的信号分子。我们假设,引入生理相关环境将促进肝细胞的分化后模式形成,并产生类似肝小叶的特征。为了验证这一假设,我们评估了在有或无Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号传导的情况下,暴露于三种不同氧张力的HepaRG细胞中药物代谢酶的转录调控和活性。暴露于代表性的门静脉(11% O₂)或肝静脉(5% O₂)氧张力下的细胞的药物代谢活性显著低于暴露于环境氧的细胞。比较门静脉和肝静脉氧张力下细胞色素P450(CYP)1A2、2D6和3A4的活性,发现在较低氧张力下活性显著增加。尽管在这种条件下Wnt/β-连环蛋白途径的表达显著增加,但该途径的激活仅对肝静脉氧张力下的CYP活性有适度影响。我们的结果表明,氧张力是HepaRG细胞中肝小叶模式形成的主要因素,Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号通路虽然作用较小,但也起着重要作用。我们的数据集还强调了基于活性检测的重要性,因为仅转录数据并不能准确反映代谢能力。这项工作研究了在有或无Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号传导的情况下,在生理相关氧张力下培养的HepaRG细胞的分化后模式形成。暴露于门静脉(11% O₂)或肝静脉(5% O₂)氧张力下的HepaRG细胞显示出细胞色素P450(CYP)和葡萄糖醛酸转移酶(UGT)酶的类似肝小叶的模式形成。这些数据集还表明,氧是分化后模式形成的主要调节因子,Wnt/β-连环蛋白对这些酶的活性影响较小,但对其转录调控有显著影响。