title: Differential increases in the expression of intermediate filament proteins and concomitant morphological changes of transdifferentiating rat hepatic stellate cells observed in vitro.
abstract: The primary function of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is the storage of vitamin A. However, they are also responsible for liver fibrosis and are therapeutic targets for treatment of liver cirrhosis. Among the many molecular markers that define quiescent or activated states of HSCs, the characteristics of type III intermediate filaments are of particular interest. Whereas vimentin and desmin are upregulated in activated HSCs, glial fibrillary acidic protein is downregulated in activated HSCs. The functional differences between vimentin and desmin are poorly understood. By time-course quantifications of several molecular markers for HSC activation, we observed that the expression of vimentin preceded that of desmin during the transdifferentiation of HSCs. The immunoreactivity of vimentin in transdifferentiated HSCs was more intense in perinuclear regions compared to that of desmin. We propose that the delayed expression of desmin following the expression of vimentin and the peripheral localization of desmin compared to vimentin are both related to the more extended phenotype of transdifferentiating HSCs observed in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Morphology, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Hondo, Akita 010-8543, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mezaki
authors.forename: Mayako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morii
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hebiguchi
authors.forename: Kiwamu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Mitsutaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Katsuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshino
authors.forename: Haruki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Senoo
keywords: desmin; hepatic stellate cell; intermediate filament; myofibroblast; vimentin