In vitro Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Hepatocytes.
- Author:
Misun LIM
1
;
Dongho CHOI
;
Jung Hoon KIM
;
Jin Seok JEON
;
Yun Seob SONG
;
Sook Ja KIM
;
Hee Jeong CHEONG
;
Jong Ho WON
Author Information
1. Stem Cell Therapy Center, Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Korea. dhchoi@hosp.sch.ac.kr
- Publication Type:In Vitro ; Original Article
- Keywords:
Mesenchymal stem cell;
Hepatocyte transplantation
- MeSH:
Bone Marrow;
Bone Marrow Cells;
Cell Transplantation;
Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy;
Cytoplasm;
Glycogen;
Hepatocytes*;
Humans*;
Liver Diseases;
Liver Transplantation;
Male;
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells*;
Spine;
Tissue Donors;
Transplants
- From:The Journal of the Korean Society for Transplantation
2006;20(1):35-40
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Whole liver transplantation has limitation including donor shortage and fatal surgical complications. Hepatocyte transplantation, which is simpler and less expensive than whole liver transplantation, allows the use of living related donors, permits the use of a single donor organ for multiple recipients, and makes possible the cryopreser-vation of hepatocytes for future use. However, hepatocytes have limitation of proliferation and lose their property during culture period. To over come this problems, here we performed differentiation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocytes. METHODS: Human bone marrow cells were harvested from posterior iliac spine of male and then mononuclear cells were obtained by Ficoll-Paque density-gradient centrifuge and plated in tissue culture flasks. For hepatogenic differentiation, we used modified Kuan-Der Lee's method. After differentiation, hepatocytes were collected and RT-PCR and PAS stain analysis were performed. RESULTS: After 5 weeks of cultivation period, mesenchymal stem cells showed cuboidal morphology and contained abundant granules in the cytoplasm. RT-PCR analysis showed increased expression of hepatocyte-specific marker genes (albumin,CK18, PERCK, CPS). Undifferentiated MSCs were not stained with PAS and differentiated hepatocytes from human MSCs stained with PAS indicating that hepatocytes contained glycogen in the cytoplasm. CONCLUSION: Hepatocyte transplantation could be one of the most effective treatments for chronic liver disease. However, hepatocyte has several disadvantages and problems. For alternative cell therapy sources, human bone marrow derived MSCs are considered as transplantable cells. Human MSCs are able to differentiate into functional hepatocytes in vitro and can be a possible cell transplantation source for chronic liver disease patients. Further studies should be done for differentiating human MSCs to hepatocytes in vivo condition.
