Agglutination kinetics of normal and diabetic adult rat hepatocytes

This paper describes Concanavalin A-induced agglutination of viable rat hepatocytes obtained by collagenase perfusion from normal and streptozocin-treated diabetic rats. An irreversible cell-to-cell agglutination model is proposed to explain hepatocyte flocculation. The rate of agglutination is concentration dependent with respect to Concanavalin A, and is twice as fast in normal as compared to diabetic hepatocytes. Sticking probability constants ranging from 18.48 x 10(7) to 4.6 x 10(7) cm-1 . hepatocyte-1 and 8.32 x 10(7) to 2.31 x 10(7) cm-1 . hepatocyte-1 are calculated as a measure of agglutination for normal and diabetic cells respectively. These findings suggest that the cytoplasmic membranes of normal cells possess agglutinin receptors which are more numerous and/or differently arranged than those existing in diabetic cells.