Analysis began with 240 normal (non-diseased) livers that were collected from unrelated donors of self-reported European and African descent. Most of the liver tissue samples come from donor livers that were not used for whole organ transplants, the remainder being from liver tissue which remains following a partial graft into a smaller recipient, usually a pediatric patient. As such, each liver is procured with the intent to transplant under the best possible conditions to maintain cell viability. Standardized procedures have been in place for handling, freezing and storage of the livers and their subcellular fractionation and enzyme characterization. Demographic information is summarized in Table 1.
