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The Storage Form of Vitamin A in Rat Liver Cells^1,2,

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011

After collagenase treatment of perfused rat liver, isolated washed hepatocytes (parenchymal cells) and washed nonparenchymal cells contained 13–53% and 5–9%, respectively, of the total vitamin A in rat liver. After Pronase E and DNase digestion of liver, nonparenchymal cells contained 1–6% of the total liver vitamin A content. By density-gradient centrifugation, hepatocytes were divided into six fractions, which contained fewer lipid globules per cell and less vitamin A per cell as the cell density increased. In our procedures, lipocytes could not be isolated after either collagenase or pronase E and DNase digestion of liver. Of the total liver vitamin A, 40–80% was found in very low density, vitamin A-containing globules, which have a median diameter of 1.7 µm (range 0.4–4.6 µm), show intense yellow-green fluorescence under UV illumination and contain >95% of their vitamin A in ester form. The distribution of vitamin A among cells and vitamin A globules in rats dosed with vitamin A was the same as in undosed rats. The possible interaction of lipocytes and different classes of hepatocytes in the storage and mobilization of vitamin A is discussed.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin A storage • retinol • liver lipocytes • hepatocytes • nonparenchymal cells • vitamin A containing globules • collagenase-treated liver • Pronase-treated liver

¹ Supported by the Competitive Research Grants program of the Science and Education Administration, US Dept. of Agric., No. 59-2191-1-1-666-0, by the U.S. Agency for International Development, No. DAN-1406-G-SS-1067-0, and by the Iowa State University Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. A brief account of a portion of this work was presented at the meeting of the Federated Societies for Experimental Biology, Apr. 13–18, 1980, Anaheim, CA. Olson, J. A. and Gunning, D. (1980) Fed. Proc. 39, 340.

² Journal Paper No. J-10994 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. Project No. 2534.

Manuscript received 22 April 1983.