Expression of Stromal Derived Factor Alpha (SDF-l(ALPHA)) by Primary Hepatocytes Following Isolation and Heat Shock Stimulation

Stromal derived factor-a (sdf-l-a) is a cxc chemokine which has been demonstratedas a recruitment factor for leukocytes to the site of inflammation, infection, injury andfollowing stress. this chemokine has been shown to be expressed by liver cells and in liverdiseases. hence, the aim of this study was to examine the expression of sdf-l byhepatocytes in responses to the stress imposed during isolation by collagenase perfusion andunder heat shock stimulation.in this study hepatocytes (2-5 x 106) were isolated from male sprague dawley rat liverand cultured in plates that were pre-coated with collagen type-i matrix. the western andnorthern blotting analysis were employed to detect sdf-l at protein and mrna levels inisolated and cultured hcpatocytes in response to isolation and heat shock stresses.the sd f-l is expressed by isolated rat hepatocytes immediately after isolation and earlyculture and decreased with time. sdf-l protein was highly expressed in freshly isolated cellsand decreased by time (27h) (p(p(less than)0.05). mrna was also expressed in freshly isolated cells(oh) but decreased after 24h of culture (p(p(less than)o.ol). this results also demonstrated thatexpression of sdf-l by hepatocytes was increased in response to heat shock at differenttime points comparing with control (p(less than)0.01).these results demonstrated that the isolation and heat shock stresses induced theexpression of sdf-l in hepatocytes in a time-dependent manner. accordingly, it seems thathepatocytes mimic the experiences that liver experience after injury in oiuo and therefore,produce stress related agents like chemokines to overcome such a injurious condition.