Karl Wilhelm Ritter von Kupffer (born Karl Wilhelm 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 1856–1857 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 gland 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. 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 (pericytes) of the connective tissues or to the adventitial cells. 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. Shortly afterwards, pathologist Tadeusz Browicz (1847-1928) from Jagellonian University in Kraków, correctly identified them as macrophages.

Selected works