Culture on a Fragmin/protamine-Coated Plate Suppresses the Collagen Type I[alpha]I and TGF-[beta]1 mRNA Expression of Rat Hepatic Stellate RI-T Cells

• Published in: Journal of veterinary medical science Vol. 75; no. 5; p. 553
• Main Authors: SEKIGUCHI, Hitomi, HEMMI, Natsuko, MAKI, Takehiro, OZAWA, Aisa, KADOWAKI, Erina, KAMIIE, Junichi, YAMAMOTO, Masako, ARISHIMA, Kazuyoshi, SAKAUE, Motoharu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Japan Science and Technology Agency 01.05.2013
• ISSN: 0916-7250; 1347-7439

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) intracellularly preserve vitamin A in the normal liver. When the liver is damaged, HSCs transform into myofibroblast-like cells, and then proliferate and increase their expression of collagen. Cultured on a plastic plate, HSCs spontaneously activate. To maintain HSCs in a quiescent state with low expression of collagen, coating methods with extracellular matrixes (ECMs) such as Matrigel-coating or laminin-rich coating are commonly used for HSC cultivation. Kishimoto et al. [14] reported that Fragmin®/protamine microparticles (F/P-MPs) have the ability to absorb heparin-binding cytokines like ECMs. Therefore, we examined whether the cultivation on an F/P-MPs-coated plate maintains the quiescent state of RI-T cells (derived from rat HSCs) including the suppression of collagen expression. We found that the mRNA levels of collagen type IαI and TGF-β1 in RI-T cells were significantly suppressed in the cultivation on F/P-MPs-coated plates compared to cultures on noncoated and Matrigel-coated plates. We conclude that the F/P-MPs coating method is useful for maintaining with low expressions of collagen IαI and TGF-β 1 mRNA levels in HSCs.