Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer

Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer
Born 14 November 1829
Lestene, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire
(Now Tukums municipality, Latvia)
Died 16 December 1902(1902-12-16) (aged 73)
Munich, German Empire
Residence Russian Empire
Nationality German
Fields physiology and anatomy
Institutions University of Kiel
University of Königsberg
Alma mater University of Tartu
Doctoral advisor Emil Du Bois-Reymond
Johannes Peter Müller
Friedrich Bidder

Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer (14 November 1829 – 16 December 1902) was a Baltic German anatomist who discovered stellate macrophage cells that bear his name.

Academic career

He was the eldest son of pastor Karl Hermann Kupffer (1797-1860). In 1854, he obtained his medical doctorate from the University of Dorpat, where shortly afterwards he served as an assistant to Friedrich Heinrich Bidder (1810-1894). In 1856-57 he took a scientific journey to Vienna, Berlin and Göttingen, an extended trip in which he studied physiology with Emil Du Bois-Reymond (1818-1896) and Johannes Peter Müller (1801-1858). Afterwards, he returned to Dorpat, where he later became an associate professor.

In 1866 he was appointed chair of anatomy at the University of Kiel, and several years later relocated to Königsberg (1875) as a professor of anatomy. From 1880 until his retirement in 1901, Kupffer held the chair of anatomy at the University of Munich.

Scientific research

Kupffer is largely known for his work in the fields of neuroanatomy and embryology. He conducted studies on the development of the brain, spleen, pancreas and kidneys, also performing research involving innervation of exocrine glands and doing investigations on early differentiation of mesoderm. While Bidder's assistant at Dorpat, he studied structures of the central nervous system, and during his tenure at Königsberg, he had the opportunity to examine the cranium of philosopher Immanuel Kant.[1]

In regards to his discovery of "Kupffer cells" in 1876, he initially suggested that this type of cell belonged to a group of perivascular cells of the connective tissues or to the adventitial cells (pericytes). Two decades later (1898), he revised his earlier analysis, stating that the cells form an essential component of the vascular walls and correlate to the specific cells of endothelium, capable of phagocytising foreign materials.[2] Shortly afterwards, pathologist Tadeusz Browicz (1847-1928) from Jagellonian University in Krakow, correctly identified them as macrophages.

Selected works

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wake, Kenjiro (2004). "Karl Wilhelm Kupffer And His Contributions To Modern Hepatology". Comparative Hepatology 3 (Suppl 1): S2. doi:10.1186/1476-5926-2-S1-S2. PMC 2410225. PMID 14960154.
  2. ↑ The Global and the Local: The History of Science and the Cultural Integration of Europe. Proceedings of the 2nd ICESHS (Cracow, Poland, September 6–9, 2006) / Ed. by M. Kokowski, Browicz or Kupffer cells?
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