Hepatocyte

Introduction
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Histology
The Hepatocyte is a specialized cell in the liver. Hepatocytes make up about 70-80% of the liver's cytoplasmic mass. Hepatocytes contain large amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum and free ribosomes. They are organized in a plate like form and separated by vascular channels that are used for blood vessels. In mammals these Hepatocyte plates are only one cell thick. The Hepatocyte is a rather unique cell as it is one of the few cells of the body that can regenerate. Due to this fact and that the liver is almost completely made up of Hepatocytes the liver can completely regenerate from as little as 25% of the original organ. Hepatocytes are not only found in the liver but are also found in the gallbladder which stores the bile secreted by the Hepatocytes for digestion. However, they don't make up as much of the gallbladder as they do the liver, as a result the gallbladder does not have the regenerative ability of the liver.

http://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/Hepatocyte

https://www.boundless.com/physiology/textbooks/boundless-anatomy-and-physiology-textbook/digestive-system-23/the-liver-1377/histology-of-the-liver-and-gallbladder-1088-1774/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925477302003386

Function
Hepatocytes are involved in many functions of the liver. These functions include: protein synthesis, protein storage and transformation of carbohydrates, synthesis of cholesterol, bile salts and phospholipids, and detoxification, modification and excretion of exogenous and endogenous substances. The Hepatocyte is also involved in initiating the formation and secretion of bile. There are a few key proteins synthesized by the Hepatocytes such as serum albumin, fibrinogen, and the group of clotting factors known as the prothrombin. They're also the main site for the production and synthesis of lipoproteins, ceruloplasmin, transferrin, complement and glycoproteins. In addition to the production of all of that they also produce their own structural proteins and intracellular enzymes. Another important function of the Hepatocytes is to synthesize very low density lipoproteins. http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/liver/histo_hcytes.html

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