Polarisation and functional characterisation of hepatocytes derived from human embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells

Author: Palakkan Anwar Azad   Drummond Robert   Anderson Richard Alexander   Greenhough Sebastian   Tv Kumary   Hay David Colin   Ross James Alexander  

Publisher: Science Publishers

ISSN: 2049-9434

Source: Biomedical Reports, Vol.3, Iss.5, 2015-09, pp. : 626-636

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Abstract

Adult hepatocytes are polarised with their apical and basolateral membranes separated from neighbouring cells by tight junction proteins. Although efficient differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to hepatocytes has been achieved, the formation of proper polarisation in these cells has not been thoroughly investigated. In the present study, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were differentiated to hepatocyte-like cells and the derived hepatocytes were characterised for mature hepatocyte markers. The secretion of hepatic proteins, expression of hepatic genes and the functional hepatic polarisation of stem cellderived hepatocytes, foetal hepatocytes and the HepG2 hepatic cell line were evaluated and the different lines were compared. The results indicate that hESCderived hepatocytes are phenotypically more robust and functionally more efficient compared with the hMSC-derived hepatocytes, suggesting their suitability for toxicity studies.

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