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Coculture and Long-Term Maintenance of Hepatocytes

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Protocols in In Vitro Hepatocyte Research

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1250))

Abstract

The liver is the largest internal organ in mammals, serving a wide spectrum of vital functions. Loss of liver function due to drug toxicity, progressive fatty liver disease, or viral infection is a major cause of death in the United States of America. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic toxicity screening, basic research and the development of bioartificial liver devices require long-term hepatocyte culture techniques that sustain hepatocyte morphology and function. In recent years, several techniques have been developed that can support high levels of liver-specific gene expression, metabolic function, and synthetic activity for several weeks in culture. These include the collagen double gel configuration, hepatocyte spheroids, coculture with nonparenchymal cells, and micropatterned cocultures. This chapter will cover the current status of hepatocyte culture techniques, including media formulation, oxygen supply, and heterotypic cell–cell interactions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. Maria Shulman for technical advice. This work was funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant TMIHCV (project number 242699), a Marie Curie Reintegration Grant microLiverMaturation (project number 248417), the Israel-Japan Ministry of Science (award number 9645), the British Council BIRAX Regenerative Medicine award (number 33BX12HGYN) and HeMiBio, a jointly funded consortium by the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe as part of the SEURAT-1 cluster (project number HEALTH-F5-2010-266777).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Merav Cohen & Yaakov Nahmias

  2. Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering, Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Merav Cohen, Gahl Levy & Yaakov Nahmias

Authors
  1. Merav Cohen
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  2. Gahl Levy
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  3. Yaakov Nahmias
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yaakov Nahmias .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Mathieu Vinken

  2. Department of In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Vera Rogiers

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Cohen, M., Levy, G., Nahmias, Y. (2015). Coculture and Long-Term Maintenance of Hepatocytes. In: Vinken, M., Rogiers, V. (eds) Protocols in In Vitro Hepatocyte Research. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1250. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2074-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2074-7_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2073-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2074-7

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