Primary cilia in the Syrian hamster biliary tract: Bile flow antennae and outlooks about signaling on the hepato-biliary-pancreatic stem cells

Abstract

Background: Microscopic anatomy investigations about the liver and biliary tract of the Syrian hamster, in reference with human structure, functions and defects in biliary tract and other organs. Methods: Electron microscopy technique and literature review. Results: The author reports the finding of primary cilia in the biliary outflow channels. By places, the widest ducts also show blunted, or even enclosed, primary cilia, either as remnants or growing primary cilia. Conclusions: The report should trigger further translational interest in human hepatology because, as seen in rodents, these sensing cell appendages, transducing antennae of biliary flow and quality, could feed back to be part of regulation of the hepatic tract motility and the secretory liver. There, adjacent oval or intermediate cells could be, through some intercellular transduction mechanism(s), influenced to differentiate into either cholangiocytes or hepatocytes. Keywords: Liver, Bile, Cholangiocyte, Primary cilium, Syrian hamster