Trends in suicide rates in Brazil from 1997 to 2015

Objectives: To analyze time trends of suicide rates in Brazil overall and in Brazilian states and compare the estimated suicide rates projected for 2020 with the World Health Organization (WHO) Mental Health Action Plan target. Methods: This was an ecological time-series study from 1997 to 2015, stratified by Brazilian states, specific age groups, and sex. Data were obtained from the Mortality Information System (Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade [SIM]) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Polynomial regression models were used to analyze the trends in suicide rates and to project suicide rates for 2020. Results: Considering 224 units of analysis, 21 (9.4%) showed a decreasing trend, 108 (48.2%) were stable, and 95 (42.4%) showed an increasing trend. Thus, 67% of units of analysis will not meet the WHO target in 2020. Mean suicide rates were higher in males than in females. People aged 60 years and older presented the highest suicide rates, while 84.7% of total deaths by suicide occurred among 15-to-59-year-olds. Conclusion: Overall, 90.6% of units of analysis had a stable or increasing trend in suicide rates from 1997 to 2015. If these trends remain, most of Brazil will fail to achieve the WHO-recommended reduction in suicide rates by 2020.

Trends in suicide rates in Brazil from 1997 to 2015.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze time trends of suicide rates in Brazil overall and in Brazilian states and compare the estimated suicide rates projected for 2020 with the World Health Organization (WHO) Mental Health Action Plan target. METHODS: This was an ecological time-series study from 1997 to 2015, stratified by Brazilian states, specific age groups, and sex. Data were obtained from the Mortality Information System (Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade [SIM]) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Polynomial regression models were used to analyze the trends in suicide rates and to project suicide rates for 2020. RESULTS: Considering 224 units of analysis, 21 (9.4%) showed a decreasing trend, 108 (48.2%) were stable, and 95 (42.4%) showed an increasing trend. Thus, 67% of units of analysis will not meet the WHO target in 2020. Mean suicide rates were higher in males than in females. People aged 60 years and older presented the highest suicide rates, while 84.7% of total deaths by suicide occurred among 15-to-59-year-olds. CONCLUSION: Overall, 90.6% of units of analysis had a stable or increasing trend in suicide rates from 1997 to 2015. If these trends remain, most of Brazil will fail to achieve the WHO-recommended reduction in suicide rates by 2020.

Predominance of human versus rat phenotype in the metabolic pathways for bile acid synthesis by hybrid WIF-B9 cells.

The rat hepatoma-human fibroblast hybrid cell line WIF-B9 stably exhibits the structural and functional characteristics of normal differentiated hepatocytes. The abilities of these cells to synthesize bile acids and amidate them with glycine and taurine were investigated. The release of bile acids into the culture media over 72 h was assessed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. WIF-B9 cells were able to synthesize bile acids (1.10+/-0.17 nmol/mg protein) but less efficiently than rat hepatocytes in primary culture (2.19+/-0.19 nmol/mg protein; P<0.01). The patterns of major bile acid species produced by both types of cells were also different. Cholic acid (CA; 72%) and beta-muricholic acid (19%) were the major bile acids produced by rat hepatocytes, while chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) accounted for only 4.5% of total bile acids. In contrast, muricholic acids were absent, while CA (62%) and CDCA (34%) were the most abundant bile acids synthesized by WIF-B9 cells. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and gene- and species-specific primers for key enzymes involved in bile acid synthesis, the expression of human, but not rat, orthologues of CYP7A1, CYP27, CYP8B and CYP7B1 was found in WIF-B9 cells. Induction of cell stress by serum deprivation did not change the amount of total bile acids synthesized by these cells, but an inversion of the CA-to-CDCA ratio from 1.8 to 0.3 together with a marked increase in the proportion of intermediate metabolites related to the acidic pathway was found. Using 500 microM radiolabeled CA and 2 mM of taurine or glycine, the ability to amidate CA over 48 h was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Rat hepatocytes conjugated more than 90% CA with either amino acid, whereas this ability was very poor (< 2%) in WIF-B9 cells. Regarding the expression of enzymes and the products of bile acid synthesis, it may be concluded that the human phenotype predominates over that of the rat in WIF-B9 cells. Moreover, these cells are almost completely unable to further conjugate primary bile acids, which facilitates the manipulation of these steroids in analytical procedures. These characteristics make WIF-B9 cells a suitable in vitro model to carry out studies on bile acid synthesis by 'human-like' metabolic pathways.

Spatiotemporal expression of catenins, ZO-1, and occludin during early polarization of hepatic WIF-B9 cells.

WIF-B9 is a suitable model for in vitro studies of hepatocyte polarity. To better understand polarity establishment, we have localized key proteins of the adhesion system, cytoskeleton, and tight junctions soon after plating, when most cells are isolated or in doublets. In isolated attached cells, only cytoskeletal proteins (tubulin, cytokeratins) displayed a precise localization. As soon as two cells formed a doublet, E-cadherin, alpha-, beta-, and gamma-catenins, and p120 protein were present at the doublet contiguous membrane. Actin, ezrin, and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) colocalized at this membrane, but not in all doublets: ezrin was present only at contiguous membrane expressing ZO-1, and ZO-1 was present only at membrane expressing actin. In contrast, occludin was spread throughout the doublet cytoplasm. With time in culture, these proteins localized transiently, as in cells expressing simple epithelial polarity, and finally, as in hepatocytes. We conclude that during WIF-B9 early polarization, key proteins are settled according to a hierarchy, as has been shown for Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Cytoplasmic complexes of E-cadherin-catenin were detected during the whole polarization process; they were more abundant in fully polarized cells.

The structural and functional polarity of the hepatic human/rat hybrid WIF-B is a stable and dominant trait.

WIF-B cells were generated previously to obtain a good in vitro model expressing the structural and functional polarity of hepatocytes. Here we tested the stability and the strength of the WIF-B polarized phenotype. WIF-B cells stayed polarized and formed functional bile canaliculi even after 3 months in culture or after injection in nude mice and culture of the resulting tumors. WIF-B was subcloned and 10,000 colonies were examined; all (except for 3) were composed of bile canaliculi forming cells. Some subclones were characterized; the polarized ones presented the same properties and karyotype as the WIF-B cells; the 3 unpolarized subclones had a lower level of E-cadherin and different karyotypes. WIF-B cells were fused with their nonpolarized hepatic parental cells. The polarity state of the resulting FWIF hybrids was studied from day 11 to day 38 after fusion, by immunolocalization of hepatocyte domain-specific plasma membrane proteins. Most FWIF colonies (>80%) were composed of polarized cells. Soon after fusion these cells were exclusively polarized as simple epithelial cells. The percent of colonies containing cells expressing the typical hepatocyte polarity increased with time and reached 80% at day 38. This result confirms the two-step polarization process previously described for WIF-B. Chromosomally complete FWIF hybrids were examined several months after fusion. As shown by the study of bile acid transport and by confocal analysis of the localization of membrane domain markers, FWIF cells expressed a functional and fully polarized hepatic phenotype. In conclusion, polarity is a stable and dominant trait of WIF-B.

Hepatocyte differentiation of WIF-B cells includes a high capacity of interleukin-6-mediated induction of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and alpha 2-macroglobulin.

Responsiveness to cytokine-mediated acute inflammatory stimuli of the highly differentiated and polarized WIF-B hybrid cell line was studied by measuring the induction of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and alpha 2-macroglobulin mRNAs after interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha treatments in the presence of dexamethasone. Compared with their Fao parent, WIF-B cells were 10 times more responsive to 24-h interleukin-6 induction regarding alpha 2-macroglobulin induction. At variance from the response measured in Fao cells, the late effects of interleukin-6 treatment confirmed the higher sensitivity of WIF-B cells to this cytokine as a 72-h treatment as 10 times more effective than a 24-h treatment at inducting alpha 1-acid glycoprotein mRNA. These findings highlight the hepatocyte differentiation of WIF-B cells compared with other hepatoma cell lines, with respect to the regulation of acute-phase protein gene expression. They also make WIF-B cells a convenient model to study the molecular effects of interleukin-6 in terms of transduction and/or transcription, and the many cross-talks that occur during the regulation of acute-phase protein gene expression.

Atypical microtubule organization in undifferentiated human colon cancer cells.

We previously reported that undifferentiated colonic cancer HT-29 cells, unlike the differentiated ones, exhibit unusual organelle distributions and atypical vesicle trafficking patterns, which are microtubule-independent and microfilament-dependent. In the present study, we have analyzed the microtubule network in both phenotypes, using confocal microscopy, and determined the expression levels of some microtubule-associated proteins by quantitative immunoblotting. Differentiated cells exhibited the microtubular organization of polarized epithelial cells. Non-polarized undifferentiated cells presented an atypical microtubule organization as microtubules were localized mainly at the cell 'top'. Immunoblot analysis indicated the absence or low content of several structural and motor microtubule-associated proteins in undifferentiated cells, compared to differentiated cells. This may explain in part their atypical microtubular organization. This study agrees with a crucial role for microfilaments in the intracellular organization of undifferentiated HT-29 cancer cells, while differentiated HT-29 cells exhibit intracellular organization similar to that of normal enterocytic cells, although they are also tumoral.

Expression and localization of hepatocyte domain-specific plasma membrane proteins in hepatoma x fibroblast hybrids and in hepatoma dedifferentiated variants.

We have studied two aspects of the plasma membrane of hepatocytes, highly differentiated epithelial cells that exhibit a particular and complex polarity. Using a genetic approach, we have distinguished between the expression/regulation of proteins specific for all three hepatocyte membrane domains and their organization into discrete domains. For this analysis we used a panel of previously isolated cell clones, derived from the differentiated rat hepatoma line H4IIEC3, and that present different expression patterns for liver-specific genes. This panel was composed of (1) differentiated clones, (2) chromosomally reduced hepatoma-fibroblast hybrids characterized by a pleiotropic extinction/reexpression of liver-specific genes and (3) dedifferentiated variant and revertant clones. The expression of 16 hepatocyte membrane polarity markers was studied by western blotting and immunolocalization. Even though cells of differentiated clones express all of these polarity markers, they are not polarized, and are therefore suitable for studying the regulation of plasma membrane protein expression, and for identifying gene products implicated in the establishment of membrane polarity. In hepatoma-fibroblast hybrids the expression of four markers, three apical (dipeptidylpeptidase IV, alkaline phosphodiesterase B10 and polymeric IgA receptor) and one lateral (E-cadherin), is down-regulated in extinguished clones and restored in reexpressing subclones, as previously reported for liver-specific functions. The dipeptidylpeptidase IV mRNA was undetectable or strongly reduced in extinguished hybrids, but expressed at a robust level in some of the reexpressing clones. Concerning the dedifferentiated variants, each has its own pattern of membrane marker expression (loss of expression of three to six markers), that differs from that of extinguished hybrids. Revertant cells express all of the membrane markers examined. Among all of these hepatoma derivatives, only cells of reexpressing hybrids are polarized, and form bile canaliculi-like structures, with spherical and even, for one clone, long tubular and branched forms. All apical markers examined are confined in these canalicular structures, whereas the other markers are excluded from them, and present on the rest of the membrane (basolateral markers) or at the cell-cell contacts (lateral markers). Cells of reexpressing hybrids also express simple epithelial polarity. Thus the expression of only a few hepatocyte-domain-specific plasma membrane proteins is subject to down-regulation, as is the case for liver-specific genes so far studied, and the expression of polarity markers and the formation of poles are dissociable events.

Functional specialization of stable and dynamic microtubules in protein traffic in WIF-B cells.

We found that the magnesium salt of ilimaquinone, named 201-F, specifically disassembled dynamically unstable microtubules in fibroblasts and various epithelial cell lines. Unlike classical tubulin- interacting drugs such as nocodazole or colchicine which affect all classes of microtubules, 201-F did not depolymerize stable microtubules. In WIF-B-polarized hepatic cells, 201-F disrupted the Golgi complex and inhibited albumin and alpha1-antitrypsin secretion to the same extent as nocodazole. By contrast, 201-F did not impair the transport of membrane proteins to the basolateral surface, which was only affected by the total disassembly of cellular microtubules. Transcytosis of two apical membrane proteins-the alkaline phosphodiesterase B10 and dipeptidyl peptidase IV-was affected to the same extent by 201-F and nocodazole. Taken together, these results indicate that only dynamically unstable microtubules are involved in the transport of secretory proteins to the plasma membrane, and in the transcytosis of membrane proteins to the apical surface. By contrast, stable microtubules, which are not functionally affected by 201-F treatment, are involved in the transport of membrane proteins to the basolateral surface. By specifically disassembling highly dynamic microtubules, 201-F is an invaluable tool with which to study the functional specialization of stable and dynamic microtubules in living cells.

The polarized hepatic human/rat hybrid WIF 12-1 and WIF-B cells communicate efficiently in vitro via connexin 32-constituted gap junctions.

Gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) plays an essential role in the control of growth, differentiation, and functions of different tissues. The expression of connexins (Cxs), the structural proteins of gap junctions, is developmentally regulated and tissue-specific. In vivo hepatocytes express Cx32 and Cx26. Most currently available in vitro hepatic cell systems express Cx43 instead of the expected Cxs. This work analyzes the GJIC competence and Cx expression of the highly differentiated and polarized hepatoma-derived hybrid cell lines, WIF 12-1 and WIF-B. It shows (using two dye transfer assays) that both lines communicate efficiently and that the acquisition of GJIC competence precedes the formation of bile canaliculi. Interestingly, these cells communicate via Cx32 expression, whereas Cx26 and Cx43 are not expressed, as demonstrated by Western and Northern blotting, immunocytochemistry, and confocal microscopy. The human fibroblast W138 parent communicates via Cx43, whereas the rat hepatoma parent Fao and the subclone WIF 12-1 TGdelta, that has lost the human X chromosome, do not communicate, the expression of Cx32 being restricted to the mRNA in these two lines. The GJIC competence of WIF cells could thus result from the activation of the human X chromosome-linked Cx32 gene.

Efficient in vitro vectorial transport of a fluorescent conjugated bile acid analogue by polarized hepatic hybrid WIF-B and WIF-B9 cells.

Efficient transport of bile acids, a typical characteristic of hepatocytes, is partially lost in most hepatoma cell lines and in normal hepatocytes after some days in culture. We have tested whether the polarized rat hepatoma-human fibroblast hybrid WIF (hybrids between W138 and Fao cells) cells previously obtained by our group were able to perform vectorial transport of the fluorescent bile acid derivative cholylglycylamidofluorescein (CGamF) towards the bile canaliculi (BC). Four different WIF clones were analyzed. All were well polarized, as shown by the formation of spherical and even tubular BC-like structures and by the restricted localization at the BC, visualized by immunofluorescence, of the apical membrane marker HA4, a possible bile acid carrier. WIF-B and its subclone WIF-B9 were found to accumulate CGamF in 65% to 75% of their BC. This transport was time, temperature, and partly sodium dependent and was inhibited by coincubation with the parental natural bile salt cholylglycine. Dinitrophenyl glutathione, a substrate of the canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter, did not inhibit CGamF canalicular secretion, whereas it greatly impaired the canalicular secretion of a non-bile acid organic anion, fluorescein, generated intracellularly from fluorescein diacetate. Confocal microscopy confirmed the presence of CGamF in the cytoplasm, supporting a transcellular route from medium to BC. In contrast, two other polarized clones exhibited a poor ability (WIF 12-6) or no ability (WIF12-1 TGdelta) to vectorially transport CGamE In conclusion, WIF-B and WIF-B9 exhibit not only structural but also functional polarity, at least as far as vectorial organic anion transport is concerned.

Establishment of hepatic cell polarity in the rat hepatoma-human fibroblast hybrid WIF-B9. A biphasic phenomenon going from a simple epithelial polarized phenotype to an hepatic polarized one.

By immunofluorescence and freeze fracture methods, we have studied the establishment of hepatic cell polarity in WIF-B9 cells, a subclone of the WIF-B rat hepatoma-derived hybrid cell line. As previously shown (Ihrke et al. (1993) J. Cell Biol. 123, 1761-1775; Shanks et al. (1994) J. Cell Sci. 107, 813-825), these cells are a suitable model for in vitro studies of various hepatic functions, particularly polarity: in confluent cultures, the majority of cells form bile canaliculus-like structures; membrane domains are settled, according to plasma membrane protein localization similar to rat hepatocytes in situ. We here report that the establishment of WIF-B9 cell polarity is a slow progressive biphasic phenomenon. During the first days of culture, the majority of cells do not make bile canaliculus-like structures. However, they display a polarity similar to that of simple epithelial cells: apical membrane proteins and villin are found at the cell apex; basolateral ones, excluded from this area, are expressed in the remaining membrane area; the tight junction-associated protein ZO-1 and actin are concentrated at the boundary of these two poles, whereas E-cadherin is present at the lateral pole just under the apex. With time in culture, the number of cells expressing this simple epithelial polarized phenotype decreases progressively and, after 10-15 days, depending on the plating density, nearly all the cells express the typical hepatic polarized phenotype. The expression of these two phenotypes is mutually exclusive. Freeze-fracture replicas of both types of polarized cells show either macula occludens, fascia occludens (simple epithelial polarity) or zonula occludens (hepatic polarity), associated with gap junctions. In this last case, two or three continuous strands are generally present all around the bile canaliculus-like structures.

Efficiency of a specific albumin extinguisher locus in monochromosomal hepatoma hybrids.

Fusion of hepatoma cells with cells of similar ploidy (1s) from different histogenetic origin results in the systematic and stable extinction of hepatic traits. However, doubling the ploidy of the hepatoma parent (2s) leads to the formation of hybrids in which extinction is not observed. To establish if these dosage effects reflect, as generally thought, the ineffectiveness of the extinguishers in 2s hepatoma-derived hybrids, the efficiency of a specific extinguisher was improved. Rat hepatoma cells (1s) stably and selectively extinguished for albumin, owing to the presence of a single mouse fibroblast chromosome marker M1, were fused with the original albumin producing hepatoma cells. In the dozen independent hybrid clones isolated, the M1 chromosome was retained and the rat albumin gene silenced. This proves that the albumin extinguisher is still efficient when the number of its targets is doubled. However the extinction promoted by this extinguisher was not immediate after fusion. A detailed analysis of the time course of extinction revealed that a precise number of cell divisions, seven, is required for the monochromosomal 2s hybrid cells to become extinguished. This phenotype was stable but reversible, loss of M1 chromosome leading to albumin expression. Moreover, the M1 part carrying the specific albumin extinguisher locus, Tse a, was identified as mouse chromosome 3.

An improved polarized rat hepatoma hybrid cell line. Generation and comparison with its hepatoma relatives and hepatocytes in vivo.

Studies of hepatocyte polarity, an important property of liver epithelial cells, have been hampered by the lack of valid in vitro models. We report here that a new polarized hepatoma-derived hybrid cell line, called WIF-B, has improved characteristics to those of its parent, WIF12-1. This latter line originated from the fusion of non-polarized rat hepatoma Fao cells with human fibroblasts (WI-38) and selection for a polarized phenotype. We generated the WIF-B line by growing WIF12-1 cells as unattached aggregates for three weeks and selecting for survivors. Karyotype analysis showed a broad chromosome pattern in the initial WIF-B population, but this pattern stabilized after a few passages. The growth and phenotypic properties of these cells were quite different from those of their polarized WIF12-1 parent. WIF-B cells attained a 4-fold higher maximal density in monolayer culture, survived at this density for > 5 days rather than 1 day, and exhibited two to three times more apical structures during this period (80 to 95%). We compared several parameters of liver differentiation in the WIF-B cells with those of a related hybrid clone, WIF12-E, which is extinguished for most liver-specific functions, and with the common hepatoma parent, Fao. By immunoblot analysis, the levels of expression of eight plasma membrane proteins were higher in the WIF-B cells than in either of the other two cell lines and ranged from 10 to 200% of those in vivo. Two plasma membrane proteins were not detected in WIF12-E cells. By immunofluorescence, the apical membrane proteins in WIF-B displayed different cellular localizations than in either of the other two cell lines. In WIF-B cells, apical proteins were confined to a plasma membrane region that we have identified as the apical domain by several criteria (Ihrke, G., Neufeld, E.D., Meads, T., Shanks, M.R., Cassio, D., Laurent, M., Schroer, T.A., Pagano, R. E. and Hubbard, A. L. J. Cell Biol., 123, 1761-1765). The same molecules were distributed over the entire plasma membrane of Fao and WIF12-E cells and also (for Fao cells) in intracellular punctate structures that did not colocalize with the majority of structures containing a secretory protein, albumin. Our results indicate that the WIF-B cells are more highly differentiated than any of their ancestors (Fao or WIF12-1 cells) and thus, are promising candidates for in vitro studies of hepatocyte polarity.

Power and limits of laser scanning confocal microscopy.

In confocal microscopy, the object is illuminated and observed so as to rid the resulting image of the light from out-of-focus planes. Imaging may be performed in the reflective or in the fluorescence mode. Confocal microscopy allows accurate and non-destructive optical sectioning in a plane perpendicular or parallel to the optical axis of the microscope. Further digital three-dimensional treatments of the data may be performed so as to visualize the specimen from a variety of angles. Several examples illustrating each of these possibilities are given. Three-dimensional reconstitution of nuclear components using a cubic representation and a ray-tracing based method are also given. Instrumental and experimental factors can introduce some bias into the acquisition of the 3-D data set: self-shadowing effects of thick specimens, spherical aberrations due to the sub-optimum use of the objective lenses and photo-bleaching processes. This last phenomenon is the one that most heavily hampers the quantitative analysis needed for a 3-D reconstruction. We delineate each of these problems and indicate to what extent they can be solved. Some tips are given for the practice of confocal microscope and image recovery: how to determine empirically the thickness of the optical slices, how to deal with extreme contrasts in an image, how to prevent artificial flattening of the specimens. Finally, future prospects in the field are outlined. Particular mention of the use of pulsed lasers is made as they may be an alternative to UV-lasers and a possible means to attenuate photodamage to biological specimens.

Application of spheroid culture to human hepatocytes and maintenance of their differentiation.

Human hepatocytes cultured with a hormonally defined medium on non-adherent poly-(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-coated surface were able to form spheroids. The maintenance of liver-specific functions was assessed by following secretion of albumin, transferrin and alpha 1-antitrypsin that were still detectable after 4 months of spheroidal culture. Moreover, cytochrome P-450 IA was induced by methylcholanthrene for up to 2 weeks. This cell system is very promising for long-term in vitro studies of human hepatocyte functions.

WIF-B cells: an in vitro model for studies of hepatocyte polarity.

We have evaluated the utility of the hepatoma-derived hybrid cell line, WIF-B, for in vitro studies of polarized hepatocyte functions. The majority (> 70%) of cells in confluent culture formed closed spaces with adjacent cells. These bile canalicular-like spaces (BC) accumulated fluorescein, a property of bile canaliculi in vivo. By indirect immunofluorescence, six plasma membrane (PM) proteins showed polarized distributions similar to rat hepatocytes in situ. Four apical PM proteins were concentrated in the BC membrane of WIF-B cells. Microtubules radiated from the BC (apical) membrane, and actin and foci of gamma-tubulin were concentrated in this region. The tight junction-associated protein ZO-1 was present in belts marking the boundary between apical and basolateral PM domains. We explored the functional properties of this boundary in living cells using fluorescent membrane lipid analogs and soluble tracers. When cells were incubated at 4 degrees C with a fluorescent analog of sphingomyelin, only the basolateral PM was labeled. In contrast, when both PM domains were labeled by de novo synthesis of fluorescent sphingomyelin from ceramide, fluorescent lipid could only be removed from the basolateral domain. These data demonstrate the presence of a barrier to the lateral diffusion of lipids between the PM domains. However, small soluble FITC-dextrans (4,400 mol wt) were able to diffuse into BC, while larger FITC-dextrans were restricted to various degrees depending on their size and incubation temperature. At 4 degrees C, the surface labeling reagent sNHS-LC-biotin (557 mol wt) had access to the entire PM, but streptavidin (60,000 mol wt), which binds to biotinylated molecules, was restricted to only the basolateral domain. Such differential accessibility of well-characterized probes can be used to mark each membrane domain separately. These results show that WIF-B cells are a suitable model to study membrane trafficking and targeting in hepatocytes in vitro.

HNF4 and HNF1 as well as a panel of hepatic functions are extinguished and reexpressed in parallel in chromosomally reduced rat hepatoma-human fibroblast hybrids.

Rat hepatoma-human fibroblast hybrids of two independent lineages containing only 8-11 human chromosomes show pleiotropic extinction of thirteen out of fifteen hepatic functions examined. Reexpression of the entire group of functions most often occurs in a block, and except for one discordant subclone, correlates with loss of human chromosome 2. The extinguished cells and their reexpressing derivatives have been examined for the expression of seven liver-enriched transcription factors. C/EBP, LAP, DBP, HNF3, and vHNF1 expression are not systematically extinguished in parallel with the hepatic functions. However, HNF1 and HNF4 show a perfect correlation with phenotype: these factors are expressed only in the cells showing pleiotropic reexpression. Since recent evidence indicates that HNF4 controls HNF1 expression, it can be proposed that the HNF4 gene is the primary target of the pleiotropic extinguisher.

Hybrid cell lines constitute a potential reservoir of polarized cells: isolation and study of highly differentiated hepatoma-derived hybrid cells able to form functional bile canaliculi in vitro.

A large number of hepatoma cell lines has been used to study expression and regulation of liver-specific function. However these cells, even the most differentiated, are morphologically far from hepatocytes. In no case is the typical hepatocyte cell polarity well maintained. Cell hybridization has been used as a potential means for turning on specific genes. From hybrids between well differentiated Fao rat hepatoma cells and WI 38 human fibroblasts, we have attempted to isolate segregated cells that are highly differentiated and polarized. Such cells, detected in aged cultures of only one hybrid (WIF12), were isolated by subcloning. One subclone, WIF12-1 was analyzed. Expression of liver-specific functions extinguished in the original hybrid is restored in all WIF12-1 cells at a very high level, similar to that of hepatocytes and 5-30 times higher that that of parental cells. Moreover human genes coding for liver-specific proteins (albumin, fibrinogen, and alcohol dehydrogenase) are actively expressed. WIF12-1 cells have acquired a polarized phenotype as attested by the presence of bile canaliculi between adjacent cells and by the asymmetrical localization of apical (Mg(2+)-ATPase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase) and basolateral membrane markers. The bile canaliculi formed are dynamic and functional structures, characterized by long periods of expansion followed by rapid contractions. The ability to polarize is a general and permanent property of WIF12-1 cells. These cells appear to constitute a valid model for the in vitro study of hepatocyte cell polarity, membrane domain formation and mechanisms of membrane protein sorting.

Expression of rat hepatocyte plasma membrane antigens in hybrid clones: assignment of genes coding for two antigens of the basolateral domain to chromosomes 11 and 13.

Expression of three rat hepatocyte plasma membrane antigens defined by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was examined by immunofluorescence in mouse hepatoma x rat hepatocyte hybrid clones segregating rat chromosomes. The antigen defined by mAb B1, a marker of the lateral domain of the hepatocyte plasma membrane in vivo, was expressed in hybrids retaining the rat chromosome 11. The antigen defined by mAb A39, mainly located on the sinusoidal (basal) domain of the plasma membrane in vivo, was expressed when chromosome 13 was present. The genes coding for these two antigens were thus assigned to chromosomes 11 and 13, respectively. The antigen defined by mAb B10, exclusively located on the canalicular (apical) domain of the plasma membrane in vivo, was not expressed in most hybrid clones, and the chromosome location of the gene could not be determined.