ABSTRACT
Objective To preliminarily explore the expresssion of the Hedgehog signaling pathway (HH) after different liver trauma, and provide basis for the blockaded effection of HH and the potentiality of new traditional Chinese medicine exploition. Methods After adaptive breeding for one week, a cohort of 140 male SPF Fisher 344 rats were randomly divided into Retrorsine injection (R) indicated the toxical of chemical damage of liver, partial hepatectomy (PH) indicated the acute liver trauma, retrorsine/partial hepatectomy (R/PH) for the hepatic stem cells regeneration, and normal control (N) groups. The administering of retrorsine or placebo, and PH or sham operation were performed as Gordon’s matheds. RT-PCR, real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect the expression of the constituents related to HH after liver damage. Results RT-PCR demonstrated that the mRNA expression of IHH, PTCH, Smo, Gli1, Gli2, Gli3 were all activated in primary liver cells after different kinds of liver damage. The results of real-time PCR analysis indicated an interaction effect existing between the treatment and the time in 3 Hedgehog-related constituents (signaling molecule IHH, indicators of the HH activation Ptc, Gli1) (all P<0.001). The protein expression of PTCH in liver tissue section was confirmed by immunohistochemistry, which differed in the duration in PH and R/PH groups. Conclusion The HH was abnormally activated during the different liver trauma. It’s maybe an important signaling pathway during the liver’s reaction after damage.