Linh Pham - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Linh Pham

Research paper thumbnail of Cholangiocytes Express the Aquaporin CHIP and Transport Water via a Channel-Mediated Mechanism

Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 1994

Cholangiocytes line the intrahepatic bile ducts and regulate salt and water secretion during bile... more Cholangiocytes line the intrahepatic bile ducts and regulate salt and water secretion during bile formation, but the mechanism(s) regulating ductal water movement remains obscure. A water-selective channel, the aquaporin CHIP, was recently described in several epithelia, so we tested the hypothesis that osmotic water movement by cholangiocytes is mediated by CHIP. Isolated rodent cholangiocytes showed a rapid increase in volume in the presence of hypotonic extracellular buffers; the ratio of osmotic to diffusional permeability coefficients was > 10. The osmotically induced increase in cholangiocyte volume was inversely proportional to buffer osmolality, independent of temperature, and reversibly blocked by HgCl2. Also, the luminal area of isolated, enclosed bile duct units increased after exposure to hypotonic buffer and was reversibly inhibited by HgCl2. RNase protection assays, anti-CHIP immunoblots, and immunocytochemistry confirmed that CHIP transcript and protein were present in isolated cholangiocytes but not in hepatocytes. These results demonstrate that (i) isolated cholangiocytes and intact, polarized bile duct units manifest rapid, mercury-sensitive increases in cell size and luminal area, respectively, in response to osmotic gradients and (ii) isolated cholangiocytes express aquaporin CHIP at both the mRNA and the protein level. The data implicate aquaporin water channels in the transcellular movement of water across cholangiocytes lining intrahepatic bile ducts and provide a plausible molecular explanation for ductal water secretion.

Research paper thumbnail of Rat cholangiocytes absorb bile acids at their apical domain via the ileal sodium-dependent bile acid transporter

Journal of Clinical Investigation, 1997

Although bile acid transport by bile duct epithelial cells, or cholangiocytes, has been postulate... more Although bile acid transport by bile duct epithelial cells, or cholangiocytes, has been postulated, the details of this process remain unclear. Thus, we performed transport studies with [ 3 H]taurocholate in confluent polarized monolayers of normal rat cholangiocytes (NRC). We observed unidirectional (i.e., apical to basolateral) Na ϩ -dependent transcellular transport of [ 3 H]taurocholate. Kinetic studies in purified vesicles derived from the apical domain of NRC disclosed saturable Na ϩ -dependent uptake of [ 3 H]taurocholate, with apparent K m and V max values of 209 Ϯ 45 M and 1.23 Ϯ 0.14 nmol/mg/10 s, respectively. Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) using degenerate primers for both the rat liver Na ϩdependent taurocholate-cotransporting polypeptide and rat ileal apical Na ϩ -dependent bile acid transporter, designated Ntcp and ASBT, respectively, revealed a 206-bp product in NRC whose sequence was identical to the ASBT. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the size of the ASBT transcript was identical in NRC, freshly isolated cholangiocytes, and terminal ileum. In situ RT-PCR on normal rat liver showed that the message for ASBT was present only in cholangiocytes. Immunoblots using a well-characterized antibody for the ASBT demonstrated a 48-kD protein present only in apical membranes. Indirect immunohistochemistry revealed apical localization of ASBT in cholangiocytes in normal rat liver. The data provide direct evidence that conjugated bile acids are taken up at the apical domain of cholangiocytes via the ASBT, and are consistent with the notion that cholangiocyte physiology may be directly influenced by bile acids. ( J. Clin. Invest. 1997. 100:2714-2721.) Key words: biliary epithelia • taurocholate • transport • liver • plasma membrane vesicles Preliminary portions of this work were presented at the 47th meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and have been published in abstract form (1996. Hepatology. 94:897 a ).

Research paper thumbnail of Cholangiocytes Express the Aquaporin CHIP and Transport Water via a Channel-Mediated Mechanism

Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 1994

Cholangiocytes line the intrahepatic bile ducts and regulate salt and water secretion during bile... more Cholangiocytes line the intrahepatic bile ducts and regulate salt and water secretion during bile formation, but the mechanism(s) regulating ductal water movement remains obscure. A water-selective channel, the aquaporin CHIP, was recently described in several epithelia, so we tested the hypothesis that osmotic water movement by cholangiocytes is mediated by CHIP. Isolated rodent cholangiocytes showed a rapid increase in volume in the presence of hypotonic extracellular buffers; the ratio of osmotic to diffusional permeability coefficients was > 10. The osmotically induced increase in cholangiocyte volume was inversely proportional to buffer osmolality, independent of temperature, and reversibly blocked by HgCl2. Also, the luminal area of isolated, enclosed bile duct units increased after exposure to hypotonic buffer and was reversibly inhibited by HgCl2. RNase protection assays, anti-CHIP immunoblots, and immunocytochemistry confirmed that CHIP transcript and protein were present in isolated cholangiocytes but not in hepatocytes. These results demonstrate that (i) isolated cholangiocytes and intact, polarized bile duct units manifest rapid, mercury-sensitive increases in cell size and luminal area, respectively, in response to osmotic gradients and (ii) isolated cholangiocytes express aquaporin CHIP at both the mRNA and the protein level. The data implicate aquaporin water channels in the transcellular movement of water across cholangiocytes lining intrahepatic bile ducts and provide a plausible molecular explanation for ductal water secretion.

Research paper thumbnail of Rat cholangiocytes absorb bile acids at their apical domain via the ileal sodium-dependent bile acid transporter

Journal of Clinical Investigation, 1997

Although bile acid transport by bile duct epithelial cells, or cholangiocytes, has been postulate... more Although bile acid transport by bile duct epithelial cells, or cholangiocytes, has been postulated, the details of this process remain unclear. Thus, we performed transport studies with [ 3 H]taurocholate in confluent polarized monolayers of normal rat cholangiocytes (NRC). We observed unidirectional (i.e., apical to basolateral) Na ϩ -dependent transcellular transport of [ 3 H]taurocholate. Kinetic studies in purified vesicles derived from the apical domain of NRC disclosed saturable Na ϩ -dependent uptake of [ 3 H]taurocholate, with apparent K m and V max values of 209 Ϯ 45 M and 1.23 Ϯ 0.14 nmol/mg/10 s, respectively. Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) using degenerate primers for both the rat liver Na ϩdependent taurocholate-cotransporting polypeptide and rat ileal apical Na ϩ -dependent bile acid transporter, designated Ntcp and ASBT, respectively, revealed a 206-bp product in NRC whose sequence was identical to the ASBT. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the size of the ASBT transcript was identical in NRC, freshly isolated cholangiocytes, and terminal ileum. In situ RT-PCR on normal rat liver showed that the message for ASBT was present only in cholangiocytes. Immunoblots using a well-characterized antibody for the ASBT demonstrated a 48-kD protein present only in apical membranes. Indirect immunohistochemistry revealed apical localization of ASBT in cholangiocytes in normal rat liver. The data provide direct evidence that conjugated bile acids are taken up at the apical domain of cholangiocytes via the ASBT, and are consistent with the notion that cholangiocyte physiology may be directly influenced by bile acids. ( J. Clin. Invest. 1997. 100:2714-2721.) Key words: biliary epithelia • taurocholate • transport • liver • plasma membrane vesicles Preliminary portions of this work were presented at the 47th meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and have been published in abstract form (1996. Hepatology. 94:897 a ).