Hepatocytes (hepatic parenchymal cells) produce a major part of liver collagen in vivo.

Following intraperitoneal injection of [3H]proline and colchicine, rat liver cells were dispersed by collagenase perfusion and fractionated by low-speed and density gradient centrifugation. Analysis of the collagenous components using purified bacterial collagenase showed that 0.1 to 0.2% of the labeled protein produced by the liver cells was collagen. Considering the population of the hepatocytes in the liver (70%), 80% of the collagen produced by the liver could be attributed to the hepatocytes.