Modelling foetal exposure to maternal smoking using hepatoblasts from pluripotent stem cells.

Modelling foetal exposure to maternal smoking using hepatoblasts from pluripotent stem cells. Arch Toxicol. 2017 May 16;: Authors: Lucendo-Villarin B, Filis P, Swortwood MJ, Huestis MA, Meseguer-Ripolles J, Cameron K, Iredale JP, O'Shaughnesy PJ, Fowler PA, Hay DC Abstract The liver is a dynamic organ which is both multifunctional and highly regenerative. A major role of the liver is to process both endo and xenobiotics. Cigarettes are an example of a legal and widely used drug which can cause major health problems for adults and constitute a particular risk to the foetus, if the mother smokes during pregnancy. Cigarette smoke contains a complex mixture of thousands of different xenobiotics, including nicotine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These affect foetal development in a sex-specific manner, inducing sex-dependant molecular responses in different organs. To date, the effect of maternal smoking on the foetal liver has been studied in vitro using cell lines, primary tissue and animal models. While these models have proven to be useful, poor cell phenotype, tissue scarcity, batch-to-batch variation and species differences have led to difficulties in data extrapolation toward human development. Therefore, in this study we have employed hepatoblasts, derived from pluripotent stem cells, to model the effects of xenobiotics from cigarette smoke on human hepatocyte development. Highly pure hepatocyte populations (>90%) were p...
Source: Archives of Toxicology - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Arch Toxicol Source Type: research