ABSTRACT
Vc CONCENTRATION THE The parenchymal cells and the stellate cells represent 65% and 7% of the total cell number in the rat liver, respectively (19). The stellate cell/parenchymal cell ratio is about 1:9 in rat and 1:7 in humans (20). When every parenchymal cell produces RBP and releases retinol-RBP complex into the space of Disse, one stellate cell incorporates retinol-RBP complex released from seven to nine parenchymal cells. The stellate cells incorporate the released retinol-RBP complex with their long cytoplasmic extensions. Retinol incorporated by their extensions may be bound with CRBP (21) in the cytoplasm and transported through long cytoplasmic extensions to the perinuclear cytoplasm to be stored as the lipid droplets. This intercellular and intracellular transport of retinol plays a role in the concentration mechanism of retinol at a cellular level in the liver.
