Establishment of a Pramary Liver Cell Culture from a Teleost, Oreochromis Mossambicus, the Tilapia: a Valid Tool for Physiological Studies

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the liver is the main source of circulating IGF-I in mammals as well as in lower vertebrates, such as in teleosts (Reinecke and Collet 1997). In mammals, the primary stimulus for the regulation of liver IGF-I is growth hormone (GH) (Daughaday and Rotwein, 1989). Although few studies have dealt with the potential GH-IGF-I axis in submammalians there is evidence that the expression of IGF-I in bony fish liver is also regulated by GH. Liver cell cultures are useful models for the investigation of physiological effectors on the hepatic system. Thus, we established a primary cell culture of hepatocytes from a teleost. Because the IGF-I cDNA sequence has been revealed IGF-I mRNA from the liver of the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) (Reinecke et al., 1997) the tilapia was used as representative species.