Sample preparation method for isolation of single-cell types from mouse liver for proteomic studies

It becomes increasingly clear that separation of pure cell populations provides a uniquely sensitive and accurate approach to protein profiling in biological systems and opens up a new area for proteomic analysis. The method we described could simultaneously isolate population of hepatocytes (HCs), hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), Kupffer cells (KCs) and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) by a combination of collagenase-based density gradient centrifugation and magnetic activated cell sorting with high purity and yield for the first time. More than 98% of the isolated HCs were positive for cytokeratin 18, with a viability of 91%. Approximately 97% of the isolated HSCs expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein with a viability of 95%. Nearly 98% of isolated KCs expressed F4/80 with a viability of 94%. And the purity of LSECs reached up to 91% with a viability of 94%. And yield for HCs, HSCs, LSECs and KCs were 6.3, 1.3, 2.6 and 5.0 million per mouse. This systematic isolation method enables us to study the proteome profiling of different types of liver cells with high purity and yield, which is especially useful for sample preparation of Human Liver Proteome Project.