Characterization and cell cycle kinetics of hepatocyte populations isolated from adult liver tissue by a nonenzymatic procedure.

Suspensions of liver cells enriched in lobular parenchymal hepatocytes were isolated from adult mouse hepatic tissue by nonenzymatic dispersion in chelating buffer and sedimentation of the released cells at unit g. Single cell suspensions so obtained were suitable for flow cytometric measurements of hepatic ploidy class distributions. The more quickly sedimenting cell population consisted of 88% albumin/transferrin-positive epithelial hepatocytes, the nuclei of which were bimodally distributed with respect to RNA content. This dual G1 population was observed in 2C DNA content liver nuclei prepared by several methods and appears to be a general cytochemical characteristic of adult liver parenchymal cells.