Fish primary hepatocyte culture; an important model for xenobiotic metabolism and toxicity studies

Primary cultured cells as sensitive in vitro model for assessment of toxicants-comparison to hepatocytes and gill epithelia

“…Primary cultured hepatocytes maintain most of their original differentiated in vivo characteristics, and therefore facilitate the extrapolation of the results in vivo. Fish hepatocytes have been extensively used for ecotoxicological exposure assessment studies (Pesonen and Andersson, 1997;Segner, 1998;Sturm et al, 2001;Navas and Segner, 2000;Smeets et al, 2002;Kuiper et al, 2004; for a review, see Schirmer, 2006). Fish gills are continuously exposed to waterborne toxicants, comprise the first barrier against toxicants that are entering the fish body, and hence are a major organ for the uptake and depuration of many toxicants (Wood, 2001), including organic chemicals (McKim et al, 1985;Randall et al, 1998).…”

Mechanisms of action for aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligands in the PLHC-1 cell line

“…A recent rise in use of cultured fish cells for a wide variety of in vitro toxicity studies (Baksi and Frazier 1990;Babich and Borenfreund 1991a;Bois and Lee 1991;Pesonen and Andersson 1997;Segner 1998), has made these systems available for use in studies of interactions between AHR signaling and cell proliferation. By extending knowledge of such effects beyond the mammalian class, the shared and distinct features among taxa can be used to build hypotheses of AHR evolution and function in cell proliferation.…”

EROD activities in a primary cell culture of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) hepatocytes exposed to polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbonas

“…Hepatocytes were isolated according to the methods of Pa¨rt et al (1993), Smeets et al (1999), and Pesonen and Andersson (1997), with modifications. In the procedure, a fish was cleared of blood from the tail vein with an injector, its skin was sterilized by alcohol, and its abdomen was dissected with sterile instruments from anus toward head.…”

“…Among in vitro assays, cells isolated from intact organs can be used directly after isolation as short-term suspension cultures or be plated on the culture plates. For example, under appropriate culture conditions, the attached primary hepatocytes remain viable for at least 1 week or even up to 1 month (Pesonen and Andersson, 1997). Primary hepatocytes, both freshly isolated and cultured, generally maintain many of their in vivo characteristics, thus facilitating extrapolation of the results to those seen in in vivo situations.…”