ONTOGENY OF HEPATIC FATTY ACID‐BINDING PROTEIN IMMUNOREACTIVITY IN HUMAN LIVER and INTESTINAL TRACT

Abstract

Liver and intestinal tissues of human fetuses at gestational ages between 6 and 30 weeks were immunostained with rabbit antibody against fatty acid‐binding protein (FABP) isolated from rat liver, since the antibody crossreacted with human FABP of the hepatic type. FABP‐immunoreactive hepatocytes were found in the liver as early as the 7th week of gestation, but not at the 6th week. The frequency of immunoreactive cells was about 80% throughout the gestational period examined. No immunoreactive cells other than hepatocytes were found in liver tissue. In the intestinal tract, ileal, colonic and vermiform appendicular FABP immunoreactivity was demonstrated at the 23rd week of gestation, and duodenal and jejunal immunoreactivity at the 26th week. Positive cells in the jejunum were very few at this stage, but numerous at the 30th week of gestation. The immunoreactive cells were primitive absorptive cells in intestinal villi, and no cryptic epithelial cells were positively immunostained. Thus, FABP immunoreactivity was considered to be a marker for hepatocytes at the early to late fetal stage, and for intestinal absorptive cells at mid‐ to late fetal stage. ACTA PATHOL JPN 38: 979∼987, 1988.

Liver-Type Fatty Acid-Binding Protein Is Highly Expressed in Intestinal Metaplasia and in a Subset of Carcinomas of the Stomach without Association with the Fatty Acid Synthase Status in the Carcinoma

“…Human liver (L)-FABP cDNA has been isolated, and the amino acid sequence has been determined in 1985 [10]. Using polyclonal antibodies against rat L-FABP which recognize human L-FABP, L-FABP has been detected not only in hepatocytes but also in absorptive enterocytes [11][12][13]. In addition, metaplastic glands of the stomach also harbor L-FABP [12].…”

“…Using polyclonal antibodies against rat L-FABP which recognize human L-FABP, L-FABP has been detected not only in hepatocytes but also in absorptive enterocytes [11][12][13]. In addition, metaplastic glands of the stomach also harbor L-FABP [12]. An intestinal FABP has been detected only in the terminal ileal villous epithelium [14]; the other types of FABP are not found in the stomach [7][8][9]14].…”

Immunohistochemical Distribution of Intestinal 15 kDa Protein in Human Tissues.

“…Human I-15P is distinctive in the view of its extremely localized expression in the enterocytes of the terminal ileum. For instance, liver FABP is extensively distributed in the liver and intestinal tract (SUZUKI and ONO, 1988), and intestinal FABP is expressed in enterocytes of the small intestine over its entire length (SHIELD et al, 1986). Only porcine gastrotropin is known to show a distribution analogous with human I-15P (WALZ et al, 1988).…”

“…Because FABPs are a family widely expressed in many organs of mammalians, each of the FABPs can be a useful marker of cells, cellular maturation and some diseases including neoplasm (SUZUKI and ONO, 1988;SUZUKI et al, 1990;WATANABE et al, 1993). Human I-15P is also expected to be a useful tissue marker of the terminal ileum.…”

Expression of Liver-Type Fatty-Acid-Binding Protein, Fatty Acid Synthase and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Human Lung Carcinoma

“…Human liver (L-) FABP cDNA has been cloned from the liver, and the amino acid sequence of the protein was determined in 1985 [9] . However, L-FABP has not only been detected in hepatocytes but also in absorptive enterocytes [10][11][12] . L-FABP is expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatoblastoma [13,14] , and recently it has been found in gastric carcinoma [15] .…”