Control of Lipogenesis in Maintenance Cultures of Isolated Hepatocytes

Abstract

Various hormones such as insulin,glucagon,thyroid hormones and others participate in the regulation of lipid metabolism in hepatic tissue.This has been well documented in intact animals, perfused liver or liver slices.While these systems have provided extensive and complementary information, each possesses some limitations. One is that intact liver consists of hepatocytes, Kuppfer cells, bile duct and connective tissue which often restricts interpretation of the data since one cannot be sure which cell type is contributing to and/or modifying the metabolic end point being studied. This disadvantage can be resolved by using primary cultured adult rat hepatocytes, which also offer the advantage of cellular homogeneity, the opportunity to conduct experiments with homologous cells from a single rat, and especially the ability to study the effect of various nutrients or hormones without the secondary hormonal responses from other organs, as can occur in whole animal studies. In the following experiments the short-term regulation of both fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis by triiodothyronine in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes will be determined.