Mechanisms of recovery from mechanical injury of cultured rat hepatocytes. Sponsel, Heather T., Philip S. Guzelian, Susan E. S. Brown, Ruth Breckon, Carla Ray, Francis R. Simon, and Robert J. Anderson. Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center and The Hepatobiliary Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
APStracts 3:0095C, 1996.
The mechanism(s) whereby hepatocytes restore denuded areas remains unknown. We therefore studied the recovery of denuded areas made in monolayers of primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. Minimal recovery occurred in cells plated on plastic. Plating on matrigel produced modest recovery (25% at 24 hours) while plating on a Type I collagen substrate resulted in more than 70% recovery at 24 hours. The rate of recovery on collagen could be attenuated by a monoclonal antibody directed against the extracellular domain of the [beta]1 integrin subunit. Monoclonal antibodies directed against CD44 (the hyaluron receptor) and E-cadherin did not influence the rate of recovery. Recovery could be stimulated, in dose-dependent fashion, by epidermal and hepatocyte growth factors. The effects of epidermal and hepatocyte growth factors to promote recovery occurred in the absence of 5-bromo-2I-deoxyuridine uptake, suggesting a proliferation -independent mechanism. Transforming growth factor [beta]1 inhibited recovery. Exposure to selected cytokines (interleukins 1 and 2), an adenine nucleotide (ATP_ S), adenosine, pertussis toxin and selected agents which bind to fibronectin and other matrix component adhesive sites (heparin and the RGD peptide) did not influence the rate of recovery of hepatocytes. However, the peptide DGEA, which can bind to collagen adhesive sites, attenuated recovery. These studies demonstrate that primary cultures of rat hepatocytes require a particular type of extracellular matrix to renew denuded areas and that the [beta]1 integrin subunit may be involved in this recovery process. Hepatocyte recovery of denuded areas can be modulated by growth factors in both a stimulatory (epidermal and hepatocyte growth factors) and an inhibitory (transforming growth factor [beta]1) fashion.

Received 20 July 1995; accepted in final form 21 February 1996.
APS Manuscript Number C442-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 27 March 96