Nouvelle méthode de préparation de l'hémopexine de rat

Abstract

Three acute-phase proteins, haptoglobin, α2-macroglobulin and hemopexin, as well as albumin, have been measured daily in the hydrocortisone-supplemented serum-free medium of pure and mixed cultures of adult rat hepatocytes for 5 and 20 days respectively. Whereas plasma protein production rapidly declined in pure culture, it remained relatively stable when hepatocytes were co-cultured with rat liver epithelial cells. In the latter cultures, an early stimulation of albumin and α2-macroglobulin secretion was observed. In addition, four other plasma proteins, fibrinogen, α1-acute-phase protein, α1-acid glycoprotein and α1-antitrypsin were shown by immunodiffusion to still be produced by day 20 of co-culture. These results suggest that hepatocyte co-cultures represent a suitable model for studying the mechanism which controls synthesis of plasma proteins, including acutephase proteins by liver cells.