A Microfabricated Platform for Generating Physiologically-Relevant Hepatocyte Zonation.

ABSTRACT: In vitro liver models have been important tools for more than 40 years for academic research and preclinical toxicity screening by the pharmaceutical industry. Hepatocytes, the highly metabolic parenchymal cells of the liver, are efficient at different metabolic chemistries depending on their relative spatial location along the sinusoid from the portal triad to the central vein. Although replicating hepatocyte metabolic zonation is vitally important for physiologically-relevant in vitro liver tissue and organ models, it is most often completely overlooked. Here, we demonstrate the creation of spatially-controlled zonation across multiple hepatocyte metabolism levels through the application of precise concentration gradients of exogenous hormone (insulin and glucagon) and chemical (3-methyl

SUBMITTER: McCarty WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4886516 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature