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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Isolation and Primary Culture of Rat Hepatic Cells
Published on: June 29, 2012
Establishment of immortalized rat Kupffer cell lines
1James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Department of Surgery, University of South Florida Health Sciences Center, C/O Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL 33601, USA.
Background:
Kupffer cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various liver diseases. Primary cultures of Kupffer cells have a very limited life span, tend to de-differentiate and become senescent, and therefore are not suitable for cell signaling studies.
Aim:
To establish immortalized rat Kupffer cell lines that facilitate mechanistic studies of cell signaling and signal transduction.
Methods:
Rat Kupffer cells were sub-cultured with EGF to obtain rat Kupffer Cell line 1 (RKC1), and subsequently transfected with Simian Virus 40 Large T-antigen expression vector to obtain rat Kupffer Cell line 2 (RKC2).
Results:
RKC1 and RKC2 are similar to primary Kupffer cells as they express the molecular markers ED1, ED2, ED3, and F4/80, and upregulate TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-1beta, Fas /FasL, and NF-kappaB, as well as TLR4 in response to LPS or pancreatic elastase. Additionally, RKC1 and RKC2 maintain phagocytic properties of latex beads and exhibit increased telomerase and stabilized p53 activity.
Conclusion:
Immortalized RKC1 and RKC2 cells maintain properties of primary Kupffer cells and can be valuable tools in evaluating the role of Kupffer cells in immune diseases and in liver-cell based drug discovery.
