Synthesis and secretion of C-reactive protein by rabbit primary hepatocyte cultures

The synthesis and secretion of the acute-phase protein C-reactive protein by rabbit primary hepatocyte cultures was investigated. Hepatocytes prepared from animals that had received inflammatory stimuli 18-24 h before cell isolation were found to incorporate radiolabelled amino acids into C-reactive protein throughout the 48 h culture period. Intracellular C-reactive protein was found to be in steady state and there was no significant degradation of extracellular C-reactive protein, permitting direct estimation of rate of synthesis from rate of extracellular accumulation. Both C-reactive protein and total secreted protein were synthesized at constant rates for at least 24 h in culture. Mean rate of accumulation of newly synthesized total proteins in medium of cultures from six stimulated animals was 40% greater than was found in cultures from nine control (unstimulated) animals; this difference did not achieve statistical significance (0.05 less than P less than 0.10). Mean rate of C-reactive-protein synthesis represented 3.9% of total secreted-protein synthesis in cultures prepared from stimulated animals compared with 0.3% in cultures from control animals (P less than 0.001). Further, there was a correlation between C-reactive-protein synthesis by cultured hepatocytes and serum C-reactive-protein concentration at time of hepatocyte isolation (P less than 0.001). Rates of C-reactive-protein synthesis by hepatocyte cultures from stimulated animals were in good agreement with those previously measured in isolated perfused livers and those calculated from results of studies in vivo.