Identification of potential biomarkers of hepatitis B-induced acute liver failure using hepatic cells derived from human skin precursors

Mechanisms and in vitro models of drug-induced cholestasis

Cholestasis underlies one of the major manifestations of drug-induced liver injury. Drug-induced cholestatic liver toxicity is a complex process, as it can be triggered by a variety of factors that induce 2 types of biological responses, namely a deteriorative response, caused by bile acid accumulation, and an adaptive response, aimed at removing the accumulated bile acids. Several key events in both types of responses have been characterized in the past few years. In parallel, many efforts have focused on the development and further optimization of experimental cell culture models to predict the occurrence of drug-induced cholestatic liver toxicity in vivo. In this paper, a state-of-the-art overview of mechanisms and in vitro models of drug-induced cholestatic liver injury is provided.

Protective effect of skin-derived precursors on photoaging in nude mice

OBJECTIVES

Currently, innovative methods to prevent photoaging are needed. Skin-derived precursors (SKP) have been shown to play a crucial role in resisting UVB-induced apoptosis in vitro. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of SKP on preventing skin photoaging in vivo.

METHODS

Skin-derived precursors from neonatal BALB/c mice were isolated, identified and intradermally transplanted with a PKH26 label to track their survival. These were then injected at different concentrations into the buttock dermis of nude mice at 2-weekly intervals before UV irradiation. Photographs, assessment of live skin surface, histology with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate the impact of SKP on wrinkles and other relevant indicators of skin photoaging.

RESULTS

SKP exhibited a sphere-like structure and could survive for at least 2 weeks after intradermal transplantation. A large dose of SKP transplantation (10⁵ SKP +UV) at 2-weekly intervals were able to ameliorate coarse UV-induced wrinkles. Moreover, the skin smoothness value, dermal thickness and collagen percentage were significantly increased in mice that received a large dose of SKP (10⁵ SKP +UV). UV radiation induced the mRNA expression of MMP-13 and decreased the mRNA and protein expression of TβRII, but these effects were diminished by SKP transplantation. The transplantation of SKP could increase the mRNA of TIMP-1.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that transplanted SKP exert a beneficial impact on preventing UV-induced wrinkles in vivo, suggesting that SKP transplantation is a promising candidate for preventing photoaging.