Cholesterol-secreting and statin-responsive hepatocytes from human ES and iPS cells to model hepatic involvement in cardiovascular health.

ABSTRACT: Hepatocytes play a central and crucial role in cholesterol and lipid homeostasis, and their proper function is of key importance for cardiovascular health. In particular, hepatocytes (especially periportal hepatocytes) endogenously synthesize large amounts of cholesterol and secrete it into circulating blood via apolipoprotein particles. Cholesterol-secreting hepatocytes are also the clinically-relevant cells targeted by statin treatment in vivo. The study of cholesterol homeostasis is largely restricted to the use of animal models and immortalized cell lines that do not recapitulate those key aspects of normal human hepatocyte function that result from genetic variation of individuals within a population. Hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) derived from human embryonic and induced pluripotent st

SUBMITTER: Krueger WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3708950 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature