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Review
. 2019 Jul 2:39:13.
doi: 10.1186/s41232-019-0102-4. eCollection 2019.

Generation of functional human hepatocytes in vitro: current status and future prospects

Tomoko Yamaguchi  1   2 , Juntaro Matsuzaki  2   3 , Takeshi Katsuda  2 , Yoshimasa Saito  1 , Hidetsugu Saito  1 , Takahiro Ochiya  2   4
Affiliations
Review

Generation of functional human hepatocytes in vitro: current status and future prospects

Tomoko Yamaguchi et al. Inflamm Regen. .

Abstract

Liver and hepatocyte transplantation are the only effective therapies for late-stage liver diseases, in which the liver loses its regenerative capacity. However, there is a shortage of donors. As a potential alternative approach, functional hepatocytes were recently generated from various cell sources. Analysis of drug metabolism in the human liver is important for drug development. Consequently, cells that metabolize drugs similar to human primary hepatocytes are required. This review discusses the current challenges and future perspectives concerning hepatocytes and hepatic progenitor cells that have been reprogrammed from various cell types, focusing on their functions in transplantation models and their ability to metabolize drugs.

Keywords: Drug metabolism; Hepatocyte; Progenitor cells; Regeneration.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Approaches to generate hepatocyte progenitors in vitro. Current approaches to generate in vitro-expandable hepatocytes include differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells, reprogramming of fibroblasts and cells of a similar developmental origin, identification of liver progenitor cells, and reprogramming of mature hepatocytes. In vitro-expandable hepatocytes are required as a therapeutic alternative to liver transplantation and for drug development
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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