title: Cell density-dependent DNA fragmentation and its suppression by heparin in primary culture of adult rat hepatocytes.
abstract: We show here that the internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, which is a biochemical hallmark of apoptosis, was induced in a cell density-dependent manner in primary culture of adult rat hepatocytes. This DNA fragmentation could be suppressed by a gene expression inhibitor, indicating the active nature of this process. Moreover, the viability changes in high and low cell density cultures showed a tendency corresponding with the incidence of the DNA fragmentation in them. These results suggest that in hepatocytes there may be a cell density-dependent apoptosis mechanism. In this report, we also show that heparin could suppress this DNA fragmentation with high specificity, and the cell death to some extent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Government Industrial Research Institute, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D004249:DNA Damage; D006493:Heparin / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D009707:Nucleosomes; D006493:Heparin; D004247:DNA