• Effect of caffeine and other xanthines on liver sinusoidal endothelial cell ultrastructure 

      Mao, Hong; Szafranska, Karolina; Kruse, Larissa Dorothea; Holte, Christopher Florian; Wolfson, Deanna; Ahluwalia, Balpreet Singh; Whitchurch, Cynthia B.; Cole, Louise; Lockwood, Glen P.; Diekmann, Robin; Le Couteur, David; Cogger, Victoria C.; McCourt, Peter Anthony (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2023-08-17)
      Xanthines such as caffeine and theobromine are among the most consumed psychoactive stimulants in the world, either as natural components of cofee, tea and chocolate, or as added ingredients. The present study assessed if xanthines affect liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC). Cultured primary rat LSEC were challenged with xanthines at concentrations typically obtained from normal consumption of ...
    • From fixed-dried to wet-fixed to live-comparative super-resolution microscopy of liver sinusoidal endothelial cell fenestrations 

      Szafranska, Karolina; Neuman, Tanja; Baster, Zbigniew; Rajfur, Zenon; Szelest, Oskar; Holte, Christopher Florian; Kubisiak, Agata; Kus, Edyta; Wolfson, Deanna; Chlopicki, Stefan; Ahluwalia, Balpreet Singh; Lekka, Malgorzata; Szymonski, Marek; McCourt, Peter Anthony; Zapotoczny, Barlomiej (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2022-04-20)
      Fenestrations in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) are transcellular nanopores of 50–350 nm diameter that facilitate bidirectional transport of solutes and macromolecules between the bloodstream and the parenchyma of the liver. Liver diseases, ageing, and various substances such as nicotine or ethanol can negatively influence LSECs fenestrations and lead to defenestration. Over the years, ...
    • Modelling fatty liver disease with mouse liver-derived multicellular spheroids 

      van Os, Elise Anne; Cools, Laura; Eysackers, Nathalie; Szafranska, Karolina; Smout, Ayla; Verhulst, Stefaan; Reynaert, Hendrik; McCourt, Peter Anthony; Mannaerts, Inge; van Grunsven, Leo A. (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2022-09-28)
      Chronic liver disease can lead to liver fibrosis and ultimately cirrhosis, which is a significant health burden and a major cause of death worldwide. Reliable in vitro models are lacking and thus mono-cultures of cell lines are still used to study liver disease and evaluate candidate anti-fibrotic drugs. We established functional multicellular liver spheroid (MCLS) cultures using primary mouse ...
    • Multimodal on-chip nanoscopy and quantitative phase imaging reveals the nanoscale morphology of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells 

      Butola, Ankit; Coucheron, David Andre; Szafranska, Karolina; Ahmad, Azeem; Mao, Hong; Tinguely, Jean-Claude; McCourt, Peter Anthony; Paramasivam, Senthilkumaran; Mehta, Dalip Singh; Agarwal, Krishna; Ahluwalia, Balpreet Singh (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2021-11-23)
      Visualization of three-dimensional (3D) morphological changes in the subcellular structures of a biological specimen is a major challenge in life science. Here, we present an integrated chip-based optical nanoscopy combined with quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) to obtain 3D morphology of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC). LSEC have unique morphology with small nanopores (50-300 nm in ...
    • Novel screening methods for nanoscale changes in liver cell fenestrations elicited by pharmaceuticals 

      Szafranska, Karolina (Doctoral thesis; Doktorgradsavhandling, 2022-08-19)
      This thesis focuses on liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) and one of their characteristic features called fenestrations. LSEC line the hepatic sinusoids and filter solutes from the plasma. The bidirectional transport of solutes between the bloodstream and the interior of the liver is facilitated via transcellular nanopores called fenestrations. Fenestrations are dynamic structures with diameters ...
    • Quantitative analysis methods for studying fenestrations in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. A comparative study 

      Szafranska, Karolina; Holte, Christopher Florian; Kruse, Larissa Dorothea; Mao, Hong; Øie, Cristina Ionica; Symonski, Marek; Zapotoczny, Bartlomiej; McCourt, Peter Anthony (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2021-07-28)
      Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells (LSEC) line the hepatic vasculature providing blood filtration via transmembrane nanopores called fenestrations. These structures are 50−300 nm in diameter, which is below the resolution limit of a conventional light microscopy. To date, there is no standardized method of fenestration image analysis. With this study, we provide and compare three different approaches: ...
    • Tuning of Liver Sieve: The Interplay between Actin and Myosin Regulatory Light Chain Regulates Fenestration Size and Number in Murine Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells 

      Zapotoczny, Barlomiej; Szafranska, Karolina; Lekka, Malgorzata; Ahluwalia, Balpreet Singh; McCourt, Peter Anthony (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2022-08-30)
      Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) facilitate the efficient transport of macromolecules and solutes between the blood and hepatocytes. The efficiency of this transport is realized via transcellular nanopores, called fenestrations. The mean fenestration size is 140 ± 20 nm, with the range from 50 nm to 350 nm being mostly below the limits of diffraction of visible light. The cellular ...
    • The wHole Story About Fenestrations in LSEC 

      Szafranska, Karolina; Kruse, Larissa D.; Holte, Christopher Florian; McCourt, Peter; Zapotoczny, Bartlomiej (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2021-09-13)
      The porosity of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) ensures bidirectional passive transport of lipoproteins, drugs and solutes between the liver capillaries and the liver parenchyma. This porosity is realized via fenestrations – transcellular pores with diameters in the range of 50–300 nm – typically grouped together in sieve plates. Aging and several liver disorders severely reduce LSEC ...