Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Feb;45(2):307-14.
doi: 10.1016/j.pep.2005.08.004. Epub 2005 Sep 8.

A hypopharyngeal gland protein of the worker honeybee Apis mellifera L. enhances proliferation of primary-cultured rat hepatocytes and suppresses apoptosis in the absence of serum

Masaki Kamakura  1 , Toshiyuki Sakaki
Affiliations

A hypopharyngeal gland protein of the worker honeybee Apis mellifera L. enhances proliferation of primary-cultured rat hepatocytes and suppresses apoptosis in the absence of serum

Masaki Kamakura et al. Protein Expr Purif. 2006 Feb.

Erratum in

  • Protein Expr Purif. 2013 Jun;89(2):258

Abstract

The worker honeybees of Apis mellifera L. age-dependently change from nurse bees which take care of their brood to forager bees which collect for nectar and convert it into honey during their lifespan of 30-40 days. A 56-kDa protein (p56kP-4) was shown to be present only in the nurse-bee hypopharyngeal gland. Here, we investigated the physiological effects of p56kP-4 on primary-cultured rat hepatocytes in the absence of serum. The p56kP-4 recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli significantly stimulated hepatocyte DNA synthesis and protected cells from apoptosis induced by serum deprivation. It also activated mitogen-activated protein kinase, as well as protein kinase B, which is a key regulator of cell survival. These findings suggest that p56kP-4 has a growth factor-like action on primary-cultured rat hepatocytes.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources