Fish Hepatocytes: A Model Metabolic System

TLDR

The hepatocyte or liver cell preparation is a standard metabolic model in mammalian physiology and biochemistry. The study introduces a basic method for isolating viable fish hepatocytes and reviews their use in hepatic function research, aiming to provide a tool for long‑term studies of hormones, xenobiotics, and micronutrients in controlled laboratory settings. Viable fish hepatocytes are isolated by collagenase perfusion followed by low‑speed centrifugation, using buffered salines that match the species’ normal plasma composition. Fish hepatocytes remain metabolically active in suspension, performing anabolic tasks such as gluconeogenesis, lipogenesis, ketogenesis, sterol biosynthesis, protein synthesis, and nucleic acid synthesis, and their use promises to reduce whole‑animal models in pharmacology and toxicology while enhancing understanding of liver function in fish biology.

Abstract

The hepatocyte or liver cell preparation is a standard metabolic model in mammalian physiology/biochemistry. This paper presents a basic method for the isolation of viable fish hepatocytes, reviews specifically the literature available on hepatic function and adaptation using the preparation, and examines those areas where this preparation could contribute to our understanding of basic and applied fisheries biology. Viable liver cells are prepared by collagenase perfusion and collected by low-speed centrifugation. Buffered salines employed for cell isolation must be consistent with the normal plasma constituents of the species. Recent studies have established that a variety of fish hepatocytes remain metabolically active in suspension and perform a variety of anabolic tasks, including gluconeogenesis, lipogenesis, ketogenesis, sterol biosynthesis, synthesis of export and mitochondrial proteins, and nucleic acid biosynthesis. New techniques, including cell culture, will provide biologists with a tool to study the more long-term effects of hormones, xenobiotics, and micronutrient requirements under controlled laboratory conditions. The use of fish hepatocytes to reduce the necessity of whole animal models in pharmacological and toxicological studies is particularly promising. The fish hepatocyte preparation represents an important tool to further our understanding of the role of the liver in the biology of fish species.