We were curious whether intraperitoneal injections might be effective. Comparison of aged matched controls revealed no differences in the distributions of microsphere Elacridar nmr labelling following intravenous vs. intraperitoneal injections, although the intravenous approach generally led to more intense labelling. This finding indicates that greater numbers of fluorescently labelled latex microspheres reached and were phagocytosed

by Kupffer cells after IV injection as compared to IP injection. This result is not surprising in light of the requirement that with IP injections, Epigenetics inhibitor the microspheres would need to first cross both the mesothelial lining of the visceral peritoneum and then cross either an endothelial barrier to enter the blood stream or a more permeable endothelial barrier to join the lymph; these steps may well reduce click here availability of the microspheres in reaching the Kupffer cells of the liver sinusoids. However, the similarity in patterns of labelling give

support to the notion that intraperitoneal injection provides a valid approach for Kupffer cell labelling in younger pups. In support of this notion, we [24] found that peptide-containing liposomes target liver hepatocytes when administered either IV or IP in young postnatal mice. Further, a recent report [25] demonstrated that patterns of Evans Blue labelling were similar following IV and IP injections in mice. When comparing the F4/80 labelling to the microsphere distribution it is evident that the size of the microsphere is important for determining their distribution pattern. The larger (0.2 μm) microspheres appear to be taken up within the liver primarily by the F4/80 positive Kupffer cells, while the smaller

(0.02 μm) microspheres appear to be taken up not only by the Kupffer cells, but also by the CD-34 positive endothelial cells. Not all microspheres can be identified conclusively as being within specific cell types; some of the microspheres appear to be located extracellularly, Glutathione peroxidase perhaps adhering to the plasmalemma of either Kupffer or endothelial cells prior to being engulfed by those cells. Identifying Kupffer Cells The types of cells that comprise the mouse liver are similar to those that have been described in other mammalian species. The most prominent cell type is the parenchymal hepatocyte [[8–10, 21]]. Non-parenchymal cells include the phagocytic Kupffer cells [[1–3, 7, 12–17, 21]], labelled with the F4/80 antibody [21, 22], which in the adult mouse liver are approximately 35% of the number of hepatocytes, and also the Ito stellate cells [[26–30]], whose numbers are about 8-10% of the number of hepatocytes. As with any organ, endothelial cells form much of the lining of the sinusoidal capillaries.