Human class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes show developmental and tissue specific differences in expression at the polypeptide level. In these studies ADH expression was investigated at the RNA level. Northern blot analysis of total and poly (A) RNA from adult liver using pADH12 probe demonstrated multiple RNA size classes of 2.6, 2.2, 1.9 and 1.6kb. In contrast, fetal liver, and fetal int...

For the development of innovative cell-based liver directed therapies, e.g. liver tissue engineering, the use of stem cells might be very attractive to overcome the limitation of donor liver tissue. Liver specific differentiation of embryonic, fetal or adult stem cells is currently under investigation. Different types of fetal liver (stem) cells during development were identified, and their adv...

We evaluated the circulation of the liver and ductus venosus, using the radionuclide-labeled mkrosphere technique, in 24 chronically prepared fetal lambs. We placed catheters in fetal descending aorta and inferior vena cava, and hi a carotid artery and an umbilical vein; in 11 fetuses, we aho Inserted a catheter hi a mesenteric vein that drained into the portal vein. After allowing 2-4 days for...

Mouse fetal livers of 12 days gestation were transplanted beneath the kidney capsule of syngeneic castrated male hosts. Recipients received a single intraperitoneal injection of 5 mg estriol (E3) immediately after transplantation and were sacrificed 4, 7 and 14 days later. Control mice received injections of solvent only. The fetal liver grafts of the E3 groups showed remarkable growth compared...

Chloroacetonitrile (CAN) is a disinfection by-product of chlorination of drinking water. The present study was designed to investigate the potential adverse effects of maternal exposure to CAN on fetal liver in mice. Based on an initial dose-response experiment, CAN (25mg/(kgday)) was given orally to pregnant mice at gestation day (GD) 6, till GD 18. Fetuses were collected and fetal livers were...

Intra-amniotic (IA) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection in sheep induces inflammation in the fetus. Human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) moderate the effect of IA LPS on fetal development, but their influence on the acute inflammatory response to IA LPS is unknown. We aimed to determine the effects of hAECs on the acute fetal inflammatory response to IA LPS. After surgical instrumentation at 11...

Recent reports account for altered metabolism in adult offspring from pregnancy subjected to abnormal photoperiod, suggesting fetal programming of liver physiology. To generate a pipeline of subsequent mechanistic experiments addressing strong candidate genes, here we investigated the effects of constant gestational light on the fetal liver transcriptome. At 10 days of gestation, dams were rand...

The processes of liver development and regeneration involve regulation of a key network of transcription factors, the c-myc/max/mad network. This network regulates the expression of genes involved in hepatocyte proliferation, growth, metabolism, and differentiation. In previous studies on the expression and localization of c-Myc in the fetal and adult liver, we made the unexpected observation t...

Fetal liver immaturity is accompanied by active heme catabolism. Thus fetal biliary pigments must be excreted toward the mother by the placenta. To investigate biliverdin handling by the placenta-maternal liver tandem, biliverdin-IXalpha was administered to 21-day pregnant rats through the jugular vein or the umbilical artery of an in situ perfused placenta. Jugular administration resulted in t...