Table 1.

Mean biliary excretion index (BEI) and in vitro biliary clearance (in vitro Cl_biliary) of [³H]taurocholate after a 10-min incubation with 1 μM [³H]taurocholate in sandwich-cultured mouse hepatocytes. (Mean ± SEM; n = 3 per group). Primary mouse hepatocytes were seeded at designated densities and cultured in Biocoat^™/Matrigel^™ (BC/MG) or Biocoat^™/gelled-collagen (BC/GC) sandwich configurations in six-well plates and maintained with DMEM for 3 or 4 days. In vitro intrinsic biliary clearance of [³H]taurocholate was significantly increased as a function of seeding density

Day in Culture		BC/MG			BC/GC
		1.0 × 106 cells/well	1.25 × 106 cells/well	1.5 × 106 cells/well	1.0 × 106 cells/well	1.25 × 106 cells/well	1.5 × 106 cells/well
3	BEI (%)	26.3 ± 10.8	27.6 ± 5.5	29.6 ± 8.2	35.4 ± 3.9	49.9 ± 6.3	46.9 ± 6.4
	In Vitro Clbiliary (mL/min/kg)	48.7 ± 20.5	60.4 ± 15.8	73.7 ± 24.6	33.6 ± 7.6†	84.0 ± 15.6†	96.0 ± 21.1†
4	BEI (%)	36.2 ± 9.0	32.5 ± 10.3	34.2 ± 5.0	32.4 ± 7.7	39.9 ± 3.5	43.5 ± 6.4
	In Vitro Clbiliary (mL/min/kg)	38.3 ± 5.0**	45.4 ± 10.6	57.8 ± 14.7**	18.0 ± 6.4*	40.4 ± 5.7*	60.3 ± 19.3*

^†p < 0.05, 1.0 vs. 1.25 and 1.0 vs. 1.5 × 10⁶ cells/well on day 3;

^*p<0.05, 1.0 vs. 1.25 and 1.0 vs. 1.5 × 10⁶ cells/well on day 3;

^**p<0.05, 1.0 vs. 1.5 × 10⁶ cells/well on day 4.