Perisinusoidal fat-storing cells are the main vitamin A storage sites in rat liver.
Highly purified sinusoidal (fat-storing, Kupffer and endothelial cells) and parenchymal cells were isolated to assess the cellular distribution of vitamin A in liver of adult vitamin A-sufficient rats. A modified simple procedure was developed for the purification of fat-storing cells from rat liver. This was achieved by a single centrifugation step in a two-layer density Nycodenz gradient. Endothelial and Kupffer cells were obtained from the same gradient and further purified by centrifugal elutriation. Reverse-phase HPLC analysis showed that fat-storing cells contained about 300-fold the amount of retinyl esters present in parenchymal cells on a mg cell protein basis. In fat-storing cells, the same retinyl esters, viz. retinyl palmitate, retinyl stearate and retinyl oleate, were present as in whole liver. It was also observed that, within 12 h after intravenous injection of chylomicron [3H]retinyl ester, most of the radioactivity had accumulated in the fat-storing cells. It is concluded that fat-storing cells are the main storage sites for vitamin A in rat liver.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002914:Chylomicrons; D004224:Diterpenes; D005260:Female; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D013696:Temperature; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis*
D002914:Chylomicrons; D004224:Diterpenes; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D014801:Vitamin A; C014794:retinol palmitate; C042811:retinyl stearate