The retention of plutonium in hepatocytes and sinusoidal lining cells isolated from rat liver.

The distribution of Pu in the extravascular and cellular compartments of rat liver was studied following the intravenous injection of ${}^{239}{\rm Pu}({\rm IV})$ citrate, 0.9 μCi/kg body wt. The quantity of Pu in the whole liver reached a maximum at 2 days postinjection (P.I.) and then declined. This loss from the liver can be expressed by a two-component exponential of the form $L_{({\rm rat}\ t>2d)}=29e^{-0.29t}+4e^{-0.022t}$, where L is the percentage of injected Pu in the liver at t days P.I. Significant quantities of both protein and Pu were found in the perfusate of livers perfused with modified Hanks buffer. The amounts of Pu in isolated and purified hepatocytes and sinusoidal lining cells were determined following digestion by collagenase of the buffer-perfused liver. The retention of239 Pu by the two cell populations declined, as did that of the whole liver. However, Pu was lost from hepatocytes more rapidly than it was from sinusoidal lining cells so that by 1 day P.I. the amount of Pu per mill...