Introduction
Hepatocyte cell transplantation can be life-saving in patients with acute liver failure
(ALF); however, primary human hepatocyte transplantation is limited by the scarcity
of donor hepatocytes. We investigated the effect of stem cell-derived, hepatocyte-like
cells in an animal xenotransplant model of ALF.
Methods
Intraperitoneal d-galactosamine was used to develop a lethal model of ALF in the rat. Human induced
pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), human mesenchymal stem cells, and human iPSC combined
with human endothelial cells (iPSC + EC) were differentiated into hepatocyte-like
cells and transplanted into the spleens of athymic nude rats with ALF.
Results
A reproducible lethal model of ALF was achieved with nearly 90% death within 3 days.
Compared with negative controls, rats transplanted with stem cell-derived, hepatocyte-like
cells were associated with increased survival. Human albumin was detected in the rat
serum 3 days after transplantation in more than one-half the animals transplanted
with hepatocyte-like cells. Only animals transplanted with iPSC + EC-derived hepatocytes
had serum human albumin at 14 days posttransplant. Transplanted hepatocyte-like cells
homed to the injured rat liver, whereas the ECs were only detected in the spleen.
Conclusion
Transplantation of stem cell-derived, hepatocyte-like cells improved survival with
evidence of in vivo human albumin production. Combining ECs may prolong cell function
after transplantation.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 29, 2015
Accepted:
April 22,
2015
Footnotes
R.R. and G.P. contributed equally to this report.
Supported by the Virginia Commonwealth University Hume-Lee Transplant Center's Irvin Grant for supplies and resident salary support. There was no industry funding for this study.
Conflicts of interest: None of the authors have any personal conflict of interests to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
