Long Term Liver Engraftment of Functional Hepatocytes Obtained from Germline Cell-Derived Pluripotent Stem Cells.

oleh: Sharmila Fagoonee, Elvira Smeralda Famulari, Lorenzo Silengo, Emanuela Tolosano, Fiorella Altruda

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01

Deskripsi

One of the major hurdles in liver gene and cell therapy is availability of ex vivo-expanded hepatocytes. Pluripotent stem cells are an attractive alternative. Here, we show that hepatocyte precursors can be isolated from male germline cell-derived pluripotent stem cells (GPSCs) using the hepatoblast marker, Liv2, and induced to differentiate into hepatocytes in vitro. These cells expressed hepatic-specific genes and were functional as demonstrated by their ability to secrete albumin and produce urea. When transplanted in the liver parenchyma of partially hepatectomised mice, Liv2-sorted cells showed regional and heterogeneous engraftment in the injected lobe. Moreover, approximately 50% of Y chromosome-positive, GPSC-derived cells were found in the female livers, in the region of engraftment, even one month after cell injection. This is the first study showing that Liv2-sorted GPSCs-derived hepatocytes can undergo long lasting engraftment in the mouse liver. Thus, GPSCs might offer promise for regenerative medicine.