Assiut university researches
Hepatic Differentiation of Porcine Embryonic
Stem Cells for Translational Research of
Hepatocyte Transplantation
K M Park, K H Hussein, J H Ghim, C Ahn, S H Cha, G S Lee, S H
Hong, S Yang, H M Woo
Abstract:
Porcine embryonic stem cells (ES) are considered attractive
preclinical research tools for human liver diseases. Although
several studies previously reported generation of porcine ES,
none of these studies has described hepatic differentiation
from porcine ES. The aim of this study was to generate
hepatocytes from porcine ES and analyze their
characteristics. We optimized conditions for definitive
endoderm induction and developed a 4-step hepatic
differentiation protocol. A brief serum-free condition with
activin A efficiently induced definitive endoderm differentiation
from porcine ES. The porcine ES-derived hepatocyte-like
cells highly expressed hepatic markers including albumin and
α-fetoprotein, and displayed liver characteristics such as
glycogen storage, lipid production, and low-density lipoprotein
uptake. For the first time, we describe a highly efficient
protocol for hepatic differentiation from porcine ES. Our
findings provide valuable information for translational liver
research using porcine models, including hepatic
regeneration and transplant studies, drug screening, and
toxicology.
Key words:
Embryonic Stem Cells Stem cell Differentation
Published in:
Transplantation Proceedings,Vol 47, Issue 3,775-779