Models and methods for in vitro testing of hepatic gap junctional communication

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Author(s):	Maes, Michael ; Yanguas, Sara Crespo ; Willebrords, Joost ; Vinken, Mathieu Total Authors: 4
Document type:	Journal article
Source:	TOXICOLOGY IN VITRO; v. 30, n. 1, p. 9-pg., 2015-12-25.
Abstract
Inherent to their pivotal roles in controlling all aspects of the liver cell life cycle, hepatocellular gap junctions are frequently disrupted upon impairment of the homeostatic balance, as occurs during liver toxicity. Hepatic gap junctions, which are mainly built up by connexin32, are specifically targeted by tumor promoters and epigenetic carcinogens. This renders inhibition of gap junction functionality a suitable indicator for the in vitro detection of nongenotoxic hepatocarcinogenicity. The establishment of a reliable liver gap junction inhibition assay for routine in vitro testing purposes requires a cellular system in which gap junctions are expressed at an in vivo-like level as well as an appropriate technique to probe gap junction activity. Both these models and methods are discussed in the current paper, thereby focusing on connexin32-based gap junctions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

FAPESP's process:	13/50420-6 - Connexin and pannexin channels as drug targets and biomarkers in acute and chronic liver disease
Grantee:	Mathieu Frederick Alexander Vinken
Support Opportunities:	Research Projects - SPEC Program