Characterization of isolated Fe-loaded rat hepatocytes prepared by collagenase perfusion.

Hepatocytes from livers of rats loaded by Fe-dextran treatment were isolated by an in situ collagenase perfusion technique and evaluated for their biochemical, cytochemical, and morphological characteristics in cell culture. Iron loads 15 times higher than in normal rat liver cells isolated in the same way were retained in the preparations with 40% present as hemosiderin. A simple centrifugation-mathematical approach is described for the calculation of Fe content in the hepatocyte (95%) and reticuloendothelial (5%) fractions in the isolates. The cells were cultured for 22 h without loss of protein synthesis capability or significant changes in cell count, viability, endogenous glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) or Fe and were morphologically similar in most respects to unloaded (normal) hepatocytes similarly cultured. Studies are in progress to assess the utility of these preparations as a model for Fe mobilization from Fe-loaded animals.