Prolonged Maintenance of Active Cytochrome P-450 in Adult Rat Hepatocytes Co-Cultured with Another Liver Cell Type

✍ Scribed by Jean-Marc Begue; Christiane Guguen-Guillouzo; Nicole Pasdeloup; Andre Guillouzo

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 521 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840040507

✦ Synopsis

The cytochrome P-450 content promptly fell in adult rat hepatocytes cultured in conventional conditions whereas no obvious change was detected over a 10-day period when these cells were co-cultured with another rat liver epithelial cell type. A concomitant maintenance of the amino-pyrine N-demethylase activity and a high aflatoxin B1-induced cytotoxicity was observed, and addition of phenobarbital to the culture medium produced about a 2-fold increase in cytochrome P-450 level. These results indicate that when placed in co-culture, adult hepatocytes remain differentiated for several days and suggest that such a co-culture system is an appropriate model for pharmacotoxicological studies.