Endocytosis of heat-denatured albumin by cultured rat Kupffer cells.

Purified Kupffer cells were obtained by centrifugal elutriation of sinusoidal cells isolated by pronase treatment of the rat liver. The endocytosis of radioactively labeled heat-aggregated colloidal albumin (CA 125I) was investigated in maintenance cultures of the purified Kupffer cells. The endocytic capacity of the cells was studied during 4 days of culture. Maximum uptake was observed after 24 hr of culture, with a gradual decline during the following days. When the uptake was measured after incubation with increasing concentrations of CA 125I, a saturation effect was observed. This finding and the observed high rate of uptake are strong indications that receptor sites on the cell membrane are involved in the mechanism of endocytosis. The uptake of CA 125I by Kupffer cells was inhibited by the metabolic inhibitors fluoride and antimycin A, indicating that endocytosis of CA 125I is dependent on energy derived from both glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration. The mechanism of internalization may also require the action of microfilaments as well as intact microtubules, since both cytochalasin B and colchicine inhibited the uptake of CA 125I. The intracellular degradation of CA 125I by Kupffer cells was strongly inhibited by chloroquine but not by colchicine. The degradation of ingested CA 125I occurred within the Kupffer cell lysosomes.