Blocking SCF/c-Kit signal did not inhibit the proliferation of cultured liver progenitor cells.
Oval cells are the putative liver stem cells that proliferate during hepatocarcinogenesis and chemically-induced severe liver injury. Antigens traditionally associated with haematopoietic cells, such as c-Kit, have been reported to be expressed by oval cells. Previous studies suggested that stem cell factor (SCF) and c-Kit were critical to oval cell development. However, the role of SCF/c-Kit signals in oval cell proliferation still remains unclear. Recently, we reported the establishment of oval cell-derived liver epithelial progenitor cells (LEPCs). In this work, we showed LEPCs co-expressed c-Kit and its ligand SCF. The involvement of SCF/c-Kit signals in LEPCs proliferation was investigated either by exposing LEPCs to c-Kit inhibitors (STI571 and AG1296), SCF, anti-SCF neutralized antibody or by using small interfering RNA to knock-down c-Kit expression. Our data demonstrate that blocking SCF/c-Kit signal did not inhibit the proliferation of LEPCs, which suggest SCF/c-Kit is not necessary for the proliferation of oval cells, at least for the cultured oval cell counterpart LEPCs.
Jin
Caixia
C
Department of Cell Biology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, P. R. China.
Li
Wenlin
W
Xu
Fang
F
Zhu
Ji
J
He
Zhiying
Z
Hu
Yiping
Y
D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000276:immunology
D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit