Different proliferative responses of periportal and pericentral rat hepatocytes to hepatocyte growth factor.

Stimulation of DNA-synthesis by HGF was compared in cultured periportal and pericentral hepatocyte populations. Periportal hepatocytes showed a higher maximal stimulation of the BrdU labeling index than pericentral hepatocytes (7-fold vs 4-fold), while the stimulation for total hepatocytes was in between (5-fold). The glutamine synthetase-positive hepatocytes adjacent to the central veins responded much less to HGF than did the pericentral cells in general. These inherent differences in the growth potential of hepatocytes from different lobular localizations may contribute to the enhanced growth of hepatocytes in the periportal zone in normal and regenerating liver.