Binding and uptake of ligands for mannose-specific receptors in liver cells: an electron microscopic study during development and aging in rat.

The binding and uptake of mannose exposing ligands in rat liver cells during development and aging was studied. The mannose-specific receptors are visualized using 5-nm diameter colloidal gold particles coated with invertase or mannan. It was found that the binding sites are present on sinusoidal liver cells since prenatal life but their quantitative and qualitative cell surface expression changes with age. The number of receptors affects the endocytotic capacity of Kupffer cells which is low during perinatal and aging periods and reaches the values of adult animals between the 11th and the 15th day after birth. Our results indicate that the expression and the activity of mannose-specific receptors on sinusoidal rat liver cells is related to the differentiative stage of the organ.