Direct self-assembly of hepatocytes spheroids within hollow fibers in presence of collagen

Abstract

Opposite to the established view that collagen is an extracellular substratum for only dispersed hepatocyte culture, hepatocyte spheroids were directly formed within hollow fibers by addition of moderate concentrations of soluble collagen. Morphologically, these spheroids indicated a close relationship with their in vivo structure of liver. The albumin and urea synthetic profiles confirmed that those spheroids maintained liver-specific functions for at least 8 days. Spheroid formation by addition of collagen not only presents a potential methodology for clinical use of spheroids in bioartificial liver device but also indicates a likely function of collagen for self-assembly of primary cells in tissue engineering.