In vitro binding of 67Ga to isolated rat liver cells.

In order to understand the mechanism of the accumulation of gallium citrate (Ga-67) in normal liver, an in vitro investigation system was developed using isolated rat liver cells, and various basal factors relating to 67Ga binding to normal rat liver cells were studied. In this study, the values of 67Ga binding to the liver cells increased in parallel with the number of cells; however, binding was hardly affected by higher doses of 67Ga. The binding of 67Ga to the cells was inhibited by the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and citrate. Phosphate and bicarbonate (10(-2) M) slightly inhibited 67Ga binding to the cells. The binding of 67Ga to the cells increased as the pH was decreased. These results suggest that 67Ga binding to normal rat liver cells may occur in 'free' gallium. Moreover, the utilization of isolated rat liver cells is useful for understanding the 67Ga accumulation mechanism in normal liver.