Selective growth of epithelial-like clear cells from adult rat liver by short-term exposure to glucocorticoids in primary culture.
Isolated liver cells, which were prepared from adult rats by a trypsin-liver-perfusion technique, were treated with dexamethasone or hydrocortisone at a concentration of 7.7 X 10(-6) M for 8 days in primary culture. The treated cultures displayed homogeneous population consisting of epithelial-like clear cells, while the untreated cultures displayed mixed population consisting of epithelial-like clear cells and fibroblast-like cells. The epithelial-like clear cells, which proliferated in the cultures treated with glucocorticoids for 8 days in primary culture, did not show any morphological changes following cultivation in glucocorticoid-free medium. After continuous glucocorticoid-treatment for more than 1 month, the treated cultures showed relatively low cell densities at confluence. The surface area of individual epithelial-like clear cells in the cultures treated with glucocorticoids for long periods of time was evidently greater than that in the cultures treated for only 8 days. The epithelial-like clear cells had glucose 6-phosphatase and tyrosine aminotransferase activities even though the levels of these enzyme-activities were very low compared with those in rat liver homogenates.
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D005952:Glucose-6-Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D014444:Tyrosine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism
D003470:Culture Media; D003907:Dexamethasone; D014444:Tyrosine Transaminase; D005952:Glucose-6-Phosphatase; D006854:Hydrocortisone