Scientists Skoltech together with researchers from Germany and the United States have discovered previously unknown structures in the liver – jumpers responsible for the formation of lumen between hepatocytes and resembling complex engineering structures. This is reported in the article published in the Journal of Cell Biology. The press release is available at the disposal of the editorial office. Renta.ru.
A characteristic feature of hepatocytes is that they are combined with cells directly in the neighborhood, as a result of which a network of narrow lumens is formed. Other liver cells – cholangiocytes – form the cavities of a larger diameter and make it the same as conventional epithelial cells. The researchers found that the form of a lumen between hepatocytes is formed due to the growth from the apicial surface of the lumen.
Scientists have shown that the narrowness of the lumen and the complexity of the bright tube network is due precisely by the presence of apical jumpers. These structures provide the rigidity of the entire structure like bulkheads dividing the vessel body on the compartments. To check if there are no side effects from the very observation procedure, the researchers studied the mouse embryo liver and confirmed the presence of similar structures in the lobes of the liver.
In the formation of the jumpers, the Rab35 protein plays an important role, when the gene is disconnected, the grows are not formed, and the lumens are obtained by the same as cholangiocytes. However, this protein does not control the formation of jumpers, but is responsible for transporting certain proteins in cells inside the cell. At the moment, researchers are engaged in finding these complexes, which may be useful for recovery of liver during obesity and fibrosis.