introduction numerous studies have demonstrated the presence of potassium selective channels in membranes internal organelles. these channels are essential to a large variety of cellular processes including intracellular 2+ a signaling, protein recycling, charge neutralization and cell protection. in contrast to the sarcoplasmic reticulum + here potassium channels have been clearly identified, ...

objective(s):the application of stem cells holds great promises in cell transplants. considering the lack of optimal in vitro model for hepatogenic differentiation, this study was designed to examine the effects of laminin matrix on the improvement of in vitro differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hbm-msc) into the more functional hepatocyte-like cells. materials and meth...

objective(s): mesenchyme is a type of undifferentiated loose connective tissue that is derived mostly from mesoderm. recently, mesenchymal stem cells (mscs), as adult stem cells (ascs) able to divide into a variety of different cells, are of utmost importance for stem cell research. in this research, ability of the liver extract to induce differentiation of rat derived omentum tissue mesenchyma...

Embryonic stem (ES) cells serve as a promising technology to obtain hepatocyte-like cells for a number of biomedical applications. Since traditional techniques result in mixed cell populations with compromised hepatic function, we have utilized strategies which (a) generate an enriched population of hepatocyte-like cells, (b) improve function using metabolic engineering principles and (c) quant...

Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF4α) is known as the master regulator of hepatocyte differentiation. Recent studies indicate that HNF4α may inhibit hepatocyte proliferation via mechanisms that have yet to be identified. Using a HNF4α knockdown mouse model based on delivery of inducible Cre recombinase via an adeno-associated virus 8 viral vector, we investigated the role of HNF4α in the regulat...

chloroacetaldehyde (caa) is a chlorination by-product in finished drinking water and a toxic metabolite of a wide variety of industrial chemicals (e.g. vinyl chloride) and chemotherapeutic agents (e.g. cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide). in this research, the cytotoxic mechanisms of caa in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were investigated.caa cytotoxicity was associated with reactive oxygen spec...

Interleukin (IL)-2 administration has been shown to decrease CYP3A enzyme activity in vivo. To determine whether IL-2 suppression of human hepatocyte CYP3A activity is direct or whether it is facilitated by the presence of Kupffer cells, primary human hepatocytes were cultured alone or cocultured with primary human Kupffer cells at physiologic hepatocyte/Kupffer cell ratios of 10:1 or 10:4. Usi...