The Non-Parenchymal Liver Cell Core has been a catalyst for both a prolific growth of cell-type specific research by center and non-center investigators and successful career developments of young investigators. During the current funding cycle, the core has served 30 investigators by performing 2,304 isolations of rat and mouse hepatic stellate cells (HSC), sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC), Kupffer cells (KC), and hepatocytes. These core services have supported 21 peer-reviewed publications and 14 grant acquisitions or renewals, plus 5 pending grant applications. As a testament to the support for young career developments, the core has facilitated successful acquisition of two KGB, one K99 and four first ROI awards by young investigators. In addition, the core continued to serve as a national resource by supporting 11 non-center investigators from 9 institutions across the nation. The core has experienced a 62% increase in the volume of services rendered in most recent 3 years, due in part to increased requests for isolation of mouse liver cells. The core has also incorporated new innovative techniques: 1) automated MACS (magnetic cell sorting)-based isolation of rat and mouse SEC;2) FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting)-based isolation of HSC from Tg mice expressing GFP under the control of type I collagen promoter (Coll-GFP) which allows collection of heterogeneous populations of HSC from a normal mouse liver and vitamin A-depleted, activated HSC from a mouse intragastric ethanol infusion model of steatohepatitis;and 3) a hypoxia chamber-shuttle box system to facilitate culture and manipulations of the cells in a manner which reproduces alcohol-induced liver hypoxia in vivo. The core is committed to continued provision of unique and invaluable services of liver cell isolation from normal and diseased rodents to promote cell-type specific research on ALD and cirrhosis at both regional and national levels.
The non-parenchymal liver cell core laboratory proposed in this grant helps researchers to discover how harmful effects are produced by different cell types in the liver, causing alcohol-associated liver diseases and cirrhosis. New information generated by these studies with support from the core, will lead to identification of new treatment modalities for the diseases.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 90 publications
