Bile acids stimulate proliferative and secretory events in large but not small cholangiocytes. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Accumulation of bile acids (BA) and cholangiocyte proliferation occur in cholestasis, but BA effects on the proliferative and secretory capacity of cholangiocytes are undefined. Cholangiocyte proliferation coupled with increased expression of H3 histone and secretin receptor (SR) genes and secretin-stimulated adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) levels is limited to large cholangiocytes. We isolated pooled small and large cholangiocytes and studied the effect of taurocholic (TC) and taurolithocholic (TLC) acids on proliferation, by measurement of H3 histone gene expression, and secretion, by measurement of SR gene expression, cAMP levels, and Cl-/HCO3- exchanger activity. In pooled cholangiocytes, TC and TLC increased H3 histone (12-fold) and SR (3-fold) gene expression and both spontaneous (1.4-fold) and secretin-induced (4-fold) cAMP response. TC and TLC increased H3 histone (10-fold) and SR (2-fold) gene expression and secretin-induced cAMP response and Cl-/HCO3- exchanger activity (3-fold) only in large cholangiocytes. In large cholangiocytes, BA may have a signaling function in the modulation of ductal secretion.

published proceedings

  • Am J Physiol

author list (cited authors)

  • Alpini, G., Glaser, S., Robertson, W., Phinizy, J. L., Rodgers, R. E., Caligiuri, A., & LeSage, G.

citation count

  • 111

complete list of authors

  • Alpini, G||Glaser, S||Robertson, W||Phinizy, JL||Rodgers, RE||Caligiuri, A||LeSage, G

publication date

  • August 1997