Hepatocitos Humanos Upcytes como modelo experimental in vitro para el estudio del daño hepático inducido por fármacos a largo plazo / Human Hepatocytes Upcytes (R) as in vitro experimental model to study long-term drug-induced liver injury

La determinación de la hepatotoxicidad a largo plazo de nuevos fármacos es esencial para el desarrollo farmacéutico pero está limitada por la falta de modelos celulares adecuados que mantengan una expresión prolongada de la funcionalidad hepática. En el presente trabajo se ha explorado la idoneidad de un nuevo modelo celular llamado Hepatocitos Humanos Upcytes (HHU) cuyas células preservan funciones hepáticas y capacidad replicativa. La caracterización exhaustiva de los principales enzimas de Fase I y II implicados en el metabolismo hepático de fármacos en HHU de tres donantes independientes a diferentes tiempos de cultivo (hasta 21 días) reveló que estas células muestran perfiles de expresión (mRNA) y niveles de actividades enzimáticas más cercanos a los hepatocitos humanos que las células HepG2. Dada la estabilidad fenotípica de los HHU, tanto a nivel transcripcional como a nivel funcional, se exploró su utilidad potencial para evaluar la hepatotoxicidad a largo plazo. Para ello las células se trataron durante diferentes periodos (hasta 21 días) con varias concentraciones de tres fármacos modelo y se evaluaron los efectos sobre la viabilidad celular, la acumulación de lípidos y fosfolípidos, el calcio intracelular y los niveles de GSH. Nuestro estudio permitió detectar efectos tóxicos crónicos, como la esteatosis o la fosfolipidosis, a concentraciones en las que la viabilidad celular no estaba comprometida, confirmando la idoneidad de este nuevo modelo celular para el estudio de la hepatotoxicidad tras tratamientos prolongados con los fármacos (AU)

Determining long-term hepatotoxicity of new drugs is essential for the pharmaceutical industry development; however, it is limited by the lack of suitable cell-based models able to maintain hepatic functions over time. In the present work we explored the suitability of a new cellular model called Human Hepatocytes Upcytes (HHU) which preserves liver functions and replicative capacity. The exhaustive characterization of the major Phase I and II enzymes involved in hepatic drug metabolism in HHU from three independent donors at different culture times (up to 21 days) revealed that these cells show expression profiles (mRNA) and activity levels enzymes that are closer to human hepatocytes than those of HepG2 cells. Given the phenotypic stability of HHU, both at the transcriptional and functional level, their potential utility to assess long-term hepatotoxicity was explored. Cells were treated for various periods (up to 21 days) with several concentrations of three model drugs and the effects on cell viability, lipid and phospholipid accumulation, intracellular calcium and GSH levels were evaluated. Our study allowed us to detect chronic toxic effects, such as steatosis or phospholipidosis, at concentrations that did not compromise celular viability, confirming the suitability of this new cellular model for the study of long-term drug-induced hepatotoxicity (AU)

Terapia celular hepática en el tratamiento de las metabolopatías congénitas en niños / Liver cell therapy in the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism in children

El trasplante hepático (TH) es el único tratamiento efectivo existente para las enfermedades hepáticas en fase terminal. La desproporción entre demanda y oferta de órganos constituye su principal limitación, planteando la necesidad de buscar alternativas de tratamiento. El trasplante de hepatocitos humanos o trasplante celular hepático (TCH) constituye, en el momento actual, la mejor opción terapéutica puente al restablecimiento de la función hepática o al trasplante hepático. Consiste en trasplantar hepatocitos humanos totalmente diferenciados a un órgano receptor, en cantidad suficiente para que estos sobrevivan y restauren la función hepática normal, basándose en la capacidad de regeneración hepática. El TCH consta básicamente de 4 pasos: el aislamiento de los hepatocitos a partir de injertos hepáticos descartados para TH, la preparación de las suspensiones celulares, la criopreservación de los hepatocitos aislados y, finalmente, su implante en el receptor. Esta terapia se ha llevado a cabo en pacientes con insuficiencia hepática aguda de distintas etiologías con intención de sustituir o servir de puente al TH y en el tratamiento de pacientes pediátricos con errores congénitos del metabolismo con objetivo de reemplazar el déficit enzimático causante de la enfermedad. En el Hospital La Fe de Valencia hemos puesto en marcha una Unidad de Terapia Celular Hepática y llevado a cabo el primer TCH en España, abriendo una nueva línea de trabajo dentro del Programa de Trasplante Hepático (AU)

Liver transplantation has been remarkably effective in the treatment of patients with end-stage liver disease. However, disparity between solid-organ supply and increased demand is the main limitation, resulting in longer waiting times and an increase in the mortality of transplant recipients. This situation creates the need to seek alternatives to orthotopic liver transplantation. Hepatocyte transplantation or liver cell transplantation has been proposed as the best method to support patients, a bridge to restore liver function or liver transplant. The procedure consists in transplanting individual cells in a recipient organ in enough quantity to survive and restore the function. The capacity of hepatic regeneration constitutes the biological basis of hepatocyte transplantation. Liver cell transplantation is carried out by means of the isolation of hepatocytes from donor liver rejected for orthotopic transplantation, to prepare a cell suspension for infusion, cryopreservation and, finally, hepatocytes are implanted into the recipient. This may be an optional therapeutic procedure in some patients with inborn errors of metabolism, fulminant hepatic failure, and acute and chronic liver failure, as a bridge to orthotopic liver transplantation. The first hepatocyte transplantation in Spain was performed in the Cell Therapy Unit of the Hospital La Fe of Valencia, creating a new research line in the transplant program (AU)

Terapia celular hepática: tipos celulares potencialmente útiles para el trasplante / No disponible

No disponible

Cytochrome P450 expression in human hepatocytes and hepatoma cell lines: molecular mechanisms that determine lower expression in cultured cells.

1. Cultured hepatic cells have reduced cytochrome P450 (CYP) activities in comparison with human liver, but the mechanism(s) that underlies this circumstance is not clear. We investigated the causes of this low CYP activity by analysing the activity, protein, mRNA and heterologous nuclear RNA contents of the most important CYPs involved in drug metabolism (1A1, 1A2, 2A6, 2B6, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, 3A4, 3A5) in cultured human hepatocytes, and in HepG2 and Mz-Hep-1 hepatoma cell lines. 2. After 24 h of culture, hepatocytes retained most of their CYP activities and protein contents, but the mRNA decreased 20-fold. However, the mRNA content of most CYPs in 24-h hepatocytes was still 400-fold higher than in hepatoma cells. When we examined the transcriptional activity of the CYP genes, this decreased during culture time in hepatocytes and it was poor in hepatoma cell lines. 3. We investigated the abundance of key hepatic transcription factors that govern CYP transcription (C/EBP-beta: LAP and LIP, HNF-3alpha, HNF-4alpha, RXR-alpha) and observed that the expression of some factors was altered in the hepatoma cells. 4. In conclusion, the loss of biotransformation activity in cultured hepatic cells is caused by a decrease in CYP transcription, which correlates with an alteration in the expression of key transcription factors.