There are only a few reports that describe the hepatocytic differentiation potential of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADMSCs) and no reports that describe the in vivo functions of hepatocyte-like cells differentiated from somatic stem cells including hADMSCs. In this study, we established a new method for generation of functional hepatocyte-like cell clusters using float...

Two-thirds partial hepatectomy (PH) induces differentiated cells in the liver remnant to proliferate and regenerate to its original size. The proliferation-specific HNF-3/fork head homolog-11B protein (HFH-11B; also known as Trident and Win) is a family member of the winged helix/fork head transcription factors and in regenerating liver its expression is reactivated prior to hepatocyte entry in...

Dicer processes microRNAs (miRs) into active forms in a wide variety of tissues, including the liver. To determine the role of Dicer in liver regeneration, we performed a series of in vivo and in vitro studies in a murine 2/3 hepatectomy model. Dicer was downregulated after 2/3 hepatectomy, and loss of Dicer inhibited liver regeneration associated with decreased cyclin A2 and miR-221, as well a...

We have compared intercellular communication in the regenerating and normal livers of weanling rats. The electrophysiological studies were conducted at the edge of the liver, and we have found that here as elsewhere in the liver there is a dramatic decrease in the number and size of gap junctions during regeneration. The area of hepatocyte membrane occupied by gap junctions is reduced 100-fold ...

Hepatocyte-like cells have been observed in the pancreas of the rat. We examined the bile acid biosynthetic function of these cells to determine whether they were real hepatocytes. This study investigated the existence of two liver-specific enzymes involved in bile acid biosynthesis (cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase and delta(4)-3-ketosteroid 5beta-reductase) in the hepatocyte-like cells. We coul...

Transferrin receptor (TR) performs the major function of binding and internalizing its specific iron-loaded ligand, transferrin, and its expression is closely linked to the proliferation status of the cell. This study was undertaken to elucidate TR expression in the hyperplastic lesion of hepatocyte in chemically induced hepatic carcinogenesis. The resistant hepatocyte model was chosen for a ra...

Hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are expected to be applied for regenerative medicine. In this study, we attempted to generate safe and therapeutically effective human iPS-HLCs for hepatocyte transplantation. First, human iPS-HLCs were generated from a human leukocyte antigen-homozygous donor on the assumption that the allogenic transpl...

While many advanced liver models support hepatic phenotypes necessary for drug and disease studies, these models are characterized by intricate features such as co-culture with one of more supporting cell types or advanced media perfusion systems. These systems have helped elucidate some of the critical biophysical features missing from standard well-plate based hepatocyte culture, but their ad...

The hepatocyte is especially vulnerable to injury due to its central role in xenobiotic metabolism including drugs and alcohol, participation in lipid and fatty acid metabolism, its unique role in the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids, the widespread prevalence of hepatotropic viruses, and its existence within a milieu of innate immune responding cells. Apoptosis and necrosis are the most...

The Forkhead Box (Fox) proteins are an extensive family of transcription factors that shares homology in the winged helix DNA-binding domain and whose members play essential roles in cellular proliferation, differentiation, transformation, longevity, and metabolic homeostasis. Liver regeneration studies with transgenic mice demonstrated that FoxM1B regulates the onset of hepatocyte DNA replicat...