Digitonin perfusion of rat liver. A new approach in the study of intra-acinar and intracellular compartmentation in the liver

Abstract

Perfusing a rat liver with digitonin in the concentration range 2-20 mg/ml resulted in complete decolorization of the organ within 45-250 s. Decolorization progressed with time in the direction of flow, and it was possible, by collecting the eluate, to obtain material from specific intracellular compartments of hepatocytes in different zones in the microcirculatory unit of the liver. Cytoplasmic marker enzymes from periportal or perivenous hepatocytes can be collected with as little contamination from the other compartment as is obtained in microdissection studies. A fraction enriched in mitochondrial marker enzymes can be achieved with only 10-20% contamination by cytoplasmic material.