Three-dimensional cultured liver-on-a-Chip with mature hepatocyte-like cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells.

Three-dimensional cultured liver-on-a-Chip with mature hepatocyte-like cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Biomed Microdevices. 2019 Jul 15;21(3):73 Authors: Kamei KI, Yoshioka M, Terada S, Tokunaga Y, Chen Y Abstract Liver-on-a-Chip technology holds considerable potential for applications in drug screening and chemical-safety testing. To establish such platforms, functional hepatocytes are required; however, primary hepatocytes are commonly used, despite problems involving donor limitations, lot-to-lot variation, and unsatisfactory two-dimensional culture methods. Although human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) may represent a strong alternative contender to address the aforementioned issues, remaining technological challenges include the robust, highly efficient production of high-purity hepatic clusters. In addition, current Liver-on-a-Chip platforms are relatively complicated and not applicable for high-throughput experiments. Here, we develop a very simple Liver-on-a-Chip platform with mature and functional hepatocyte-like cells derived from hPSCs. To establish a method for hepatic differentiation of hPSCs, cells were first treated by inhibiting the phosphoinositide 3-kinase- and Rho-associated protein kinase-signaling pathways to stop self-renewal and improve survival, respectively, which enabled the formation of a well-defined endoderm and facilitated hepatocyte commitment. Next, a simple microfluidic device was use...
Source: Biomedical Microdevices - Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Tags: Biomed Microdevices Source Type: research