A simple procedure for the isolation of rat liver microsomes

Abstract

Endoplasmic reticulum of rat liver undergoes extensive fragmentation upon homogenization [l] . The major component of endoplasmic reticulum which accounted for lo-13% of total liver was recognized as microsomes in early 194 1 [2] . The rat liver microsomes were reported to have variable size from 50300 nm [3], necessitating a high centrifugal force to isolate them in contrast to other subcellular fractions like nuclei and mitochondria. The standard procedure, thus requires a sophisticated instrument like an ultracentrifuge and, at the same time, is very time consuming. Taking advantage of one of the characteristic properties of rat liver microsomes and rat skeletal muscle microsomes [4, 51 to bind calcium ions, we report in this communication a relatively simple method for the isolation of rat liver microsomes.