COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR PROMOTING DIRECT CONVERSION OF FIBROBLASTS INTO HEPATOCYTES

摘要

The present invention relates to direct conversion of somatic cells into hepatocytes. The present invention provides a composition and a method for promoting direct conversion of somatic cells into hepatocytes, which show significantly improved direct conversion efficiency into induced hepatocytes through the cell culture by adding, to a culture medium for direct conversion of somatic cells into hepatocytes, a small- molecule compound known to promote the MET process by interrupting and inhibiting TGF-β signaling and a small-molecule compound capable of activating Wnt signaling known to induce growth of cells. According to the present invention, the efficiency of direct conversion is increased by promoting direct conversion into induced hepatocytes, and thus a larger number of hepatocytes are produced in a shorter time. Therefore, it is possible to accelerate development of a cell therapy agent using hepatocytes, to establish a toxicity verifying system for new drug materials mediated by hepatocytes and to produce patient-specific hepatocytes in a large scale efficiently.