Abstract
Intermediate filament-rich cytoskeletal protein was extracted from normal and 7 or 21-day bile duct-ligated rat hepatocytes, and analyzed by both one and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The most marked change in the bile duct-ligated rats was an increase in 44kd polypeptide, determined by immunoblotting to be actin. Cytokeratin, the intermediate filament type found in hepatocytes, was also slightly increased. However, a marked decrease of the basic side spot of 55kd paired cytokeratin components was noted on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Fluorescent staining of liver tissue F-actin using NBD-phallacidin showed no remarkable difference between the two groups. Therefore, the increased actin content of hepatocyte after bile duct ligation may be mainly G-actin rather than F-actin. These changes in hepatocyte cytoskeleton seem to be a cellular adaptation to the microenvironment.
