Kupffer Cell Isolation from Human Biopsies

Abstract

Liver macrophages (LMs) are phagocytic cells that play an important role in many liver disorders due to their ability to respond to a variety of stimuli and activating signals.

It is currently debated whether LMs activation from an anti-inflammatory to a proinflammatory phenotype contributes to obesity-induced metabolic diseases. We recently found that LMs can produce noninflammatory factors, such as the protein IGFBP7, able to directly regulate hepatic glucose production and lipid accumulation in the liver. However, while in a mouse model of obesity and insulin resistance LM-Igfbp7 expression is pathologically increased, in obese insulin-resistant patients LM-IGFBP7 is edited at RNA level independently of an effect on its expression. This discrepancy between results in animals and humans confirms the importance to perform molecular investigation directly on human’s isolated cells. Here, we describe a protocol to isolate liver macrophages from human liver biopsy .