Hepatocyte Isolation, Culture, and Its Clinical Applications / 한양의대학술지

ABSTRACT

Hepatocytes, parenchymal cells of the liver, are specially differentiated cells to perform most of the body metabolisms. Many clinicians are interested in utilizing hepatocytes as cell therapeutics. A great number of investigators have been harvesting hepatocytes using two-step portal vein perfusion method, in which Ca2+-free EDTA-containing buffer and Ca2+-enriched collagenase solution are pumped into liver in sequence. Among various attempts for long-term culture of hepatocytes, collagen gel sandwich configuration is recognized to be the most effective technique. In the biomedical field, hepatocytes have been used in three methods of applications. First is hepatocyte transplantation for the treatment of acute, chronic liver failure and metabolic diseases. Donated livers not suitable for organ transplantation are rare, which is the major human hepatocyte source. This shortage of human hepatocyte source is expected to be resolved by virtue of rapid progressing stem cell technologies. The second application is biological components of bioartificial liver (BAL) system for acute liver failure patients. Due to the lack of functional activity of clinically studied BAL systems and difficulty of establishing a manufacturing system for ready-to-use, additional research activities are stagnated. The third utilization of hepatocytes is in vitro drug screening studies such as drug metabolism, transport, biliary excretion, and toxicity tests. If cell therapeutic treatments using hepatocytes are clinically valuable to some types of liver diseases, the demand for liver transplantation would be significantly diminished.