Isolation, culture, and functional analysis of hepatocytes from mice with fatty liver disease

We present a protocol for isolating hepatocytes from mice with established non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This protocol consists of liver perfusion using a peristaltic pump, followed by a modified 25% and 90% Percoll gradient centrifugation protocol to capture lipid-laden hepatocytes that are usually lost using traditional isolation protocols. This protocol enables simultaneous isolation of normal and lipid-filled hepatocytes. Lipid-filled hepatocytes can be used in cell culture systems to study drug metabolism, hepatotoxicity, or glucose and lipid metabolism. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Sharabi et al. (2017) and Kegel et al. (2016).