An in vitro fluorometric assay for evaluating functional polarity of hepatocyte

Author(s): Anwar Azad Palakkan, Anil Kumar P.R., Kumary T. V

Abstract

Hepatocytes in liver form bile­­ canaliculi (i.e. polarized) through which they excrete bile salts and xenobiotic metabolites. Under specific culture conditions hepatocytes can form bile canaliculi, and is a commonly used model for studying biliary secretion of compounds. Many compounds/drugs (choleogenic) exert their action by disrupting hepatic polarity, thereby affecting biliary secretions. Functional polarity of cultured hepatocytes is generally evaluated microscopically by assessing the expression of apical markers or the excretion of traceable compound in bile canaliculi. In this study, we describe an easy, non-destructive, non-radioactive spectrofluorometric method for quantitative assessment of hepatocyte polarization by modulating their bile canaliculi dynamics.

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