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. 2016 Dec 17;13(6):740–749. doi: 10.1007/s13770-016-0094-y

Functional comparison of human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells as sources of hepatocyte-like cells

Jaemin Jeong 1, Kyu Nam Kim 2, Min Sung Chung 1,3,✉, Han Joon Kim 1,3,✉
PMCID: PMC6170874  PMID: 30603455

Abstract

Pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into many cell types including mature hepatocytes, and can be used in the development of new drugs, treatment of diseases, and in basic research. In this study, we established a protocol leading to efficient hepatic differentiation, and compared the capacity to differentiate into the hepatocyte lineage of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Optimal combinations of cytokines and growth factors were added to embryoid bodies produced by both types of cell. Differentiation of the cells was assessed with optical and electron microscopes, and hepatic-specific transcripts and proteins were detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunocytochemistry, respectively. Both types of embryoid body produced polygonal hepatocyte-like cells accompanied by time-dependent up regulation of genes for α-fetoprotein, albumin (ALB), asialoglycoprotein1, CK8, CK18, CK19, CYP1A2, and CYP3A4, which are expressed in fetal and adult hepatocytes. Both types of cell displayed functions characteristic of mature hepatocytes such as accumulation of glycogen, secretion of ALB, and uptake of indocyanine green. And these cells are transplanted into mouse model. Our findings indicate that hESCs and hiPSCs have similar abilities to differentiate into hepatocyte in vitro using the protocol developed here, and these cells are transplantable into damaged liver.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s13770-016-0094-y and is accessible for authorized users.

Key Words: Hepatocyte differentiation, Hepatocyte-like cells, Human embryonic stem cells, Human induced pluripotent stem cells

Electronic supplementary material

List of primers for real-time PCR (82.5KB, pdf)
List of antibodies for immunostaining (77.7KB, pdf)

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Contributor Information

Min Sung Chung, Phone: 82-2-2290-8452, FAX: 82-2-2281-0224, Email: bovie@hanyang.ac.kr.

Han Joon Kim, Phone: 82-31-560-2278, FAX: 82-31-566-4409, Email: thicknyh@gmail.com.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

List of primers for real-time PCR (82.5KB, pdf)
List of antibodies for immunostaining (77.7KB, pdf)

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