Liver developmental microenvironment promotes iHSC generation from human iPSCs.

ABSTRACT: Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are liver-specific mesenchymal cells that play a crucial role in liver formation and regeneration, as well as in different pathological diseases. However, the limited source of primary HSCs (pHSCs) and the suboptimal functionality of induced HSCs (iHSCs) by existing methods restrict their application in biomedical modeling. We developed a de novo differentiation method to generate iHSCs under simulated liver microenvironment in vitro, thereby enhancing the function of the differentiated cells. These iHSCs exhibited key HSC functions, including the expression of α-smooth muscle actin, collagen, and the capability to store Vitamin A. RNA sequencing further revealed that the present iHSCs converged more closely to pHSCs with very similar transcriptional profile c

SUBMITTER: Ye D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12214545 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature