Synthesis and receptor sites of endothelin‐1 in the rat liver vasculature

Immunocytochemical localization of big endothelin-1 (big ET-1), ET-1, and ET receptor A and B (ETA and ETB), and gene expression of prepro ET-1 mRNA were examined on the rat liver vasculature. Immunoreactivities for big ET-1 and ET-1 were preferentially seen along the endothelium of interlobular veins (IV) and artery (IA), although the staining intensity was more pronounced in IV. Expression of preproET-1 mRNA was detected in both vascular endothelia and the signal intensity was more prevalent in IV. Immunoelectron microscopy showed that rough endoplasmic cisterns were immunoreactive for big ET-1, while Weibel-Palade (WP) bodies, a storage site for ET-1, were immunoreactive for ET-1 in endothelial cells of IV. These results indicate that endothelial cells of IV are the major site of synthesis of ET-1, which is extracellularly secreted by degranulation and/or exocytosis of WP bodies. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), especially of the plasma membrane of perisinusoidal and interhepatocellular processes, were immunoreactive for both ETA and ETB receptor antibodies. These findings suggest that ET-1 receptor-mediated HSC contraction is involved in the regulation of hepatic sinusoidal blood flow as previously cited in mammalian liver cirrhosis. We also showed that sarcolemma and caveoles in the smooth muscle cells of the media of IV, and its branches before reaching the hepatic sinusoids, were immunoreactive for ETA receptor antibody. The results suggest that such vessels, which contains a large amount of hepatic blood inflow, participate in pump mechanism toward hepatic sinusoidal circulation in a receptor-mediated paracrine fashion. Anat Rec 259:437‐ 445, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.