Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. May 27, 2020; 12(5): 226-235
Published online May 27, 2020. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v12.i5.226
Effect of cholesterol on in vitro cultured interstitial Cajal-like cells isolated from guinea pig gallbladders
Bei-Bei Fu, Jin-Huang Xu, Shuo-Dong Wu, Ying Fan
Bei-Bei Fu, Department of Health Management, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Jin-Huang Xu, Shuo-Dong Wu, Ying Fan, Department of General Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Fu BB and Xu JH designed and performed the experiments; Wu SD analyzed the data; Fu BB and Fan Y wrote the paper.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81000183; the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province, No. 20180550125.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The study protocol obtained the Affidavit of Approval of Animal Use Protocol of Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ying Fan, MD, PhD, Doctor, Professor, Department of General Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China. coolingpine78@163.com
Received: December 18, 2019
Peer-review started: December 18, 2019
First decision: January 6, 2020
Revised: March 13, 2020
Accepted: April 18, 2020
Article in press: April 18, 2020
Published online: May 27, 2020
Processing time: 161 Days and 4.5 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Loss and/or dysfunction of interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLCs) in the gallbladder may promote cholesterol gallstone formation by decreasing gallbladder motility.

Research motivation

Absorption of supersaturated cholesterol in bile by the gallbladder wall might be the cause of loss and/or dysfunction of gallbladder ICLCs.

Research objectives

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of cholesterol on the proliferation and apoptosis of ICLCs from guinea pig gallbladders.

Research methods

ICLCs from guinea pig gallbladders were isolated and cultured in vitro. The cells were exposed to cholesterol solutions at different concentrations. Cell proliferation, apoptosis rate, and expression of c-Kit protein and mRNA were detected.

Research results

Compared with the control group (no treatment group), the addition of cholesterol significantly decreased the proliferation rates and the expression of c-Kit protein and mRNA in ICLCs. While, the apoptosis rates of cells were increased.

Research conclusions

High cholesterol concentrations can inhibit the proliferation of ICLCs and promote apoptosis, which might be caused by the inhibition of the stem cell factor/c-Kit signaling pathway.

Research perspectives

This is a proof-of-concept study that lacks a mechanical study. The mechanism by which cholesterol regulates the stem cell factor/c-Kit pathway remains unclear and need further investigation.