Differentiated human liver cell cultures and their use in bioartificial liver systems

摘要

The present invention concerns human hepatocyte cell line cultures and their use in bioartificial liver (BAL) systems. These systems are used to treat subjects suffering from liver failure to temporarily compensate for loss of hepatocellular function and generally comprise a bioreactor loaded with functional liver cells. Until now, it has been problematic to acquire cells with a broad spectrum metabolic functionality, resembling that of freshly isolated human hepatocytes, to the extent that they are in fact suitable for successful clinical BAL application The present inventors have managed to develop human hepatocyte cell line cultures that display broad-spectrum metabolic functionality such as to render them particularly suitable for effective clinical BAL application.

主权项

1. A cell culture comprising differentiated cells from a human hepatocyte cell line in a suitable culture medium, wherein said differentiated cells have constitutive liver-specific metabolic activity, the cell culture obtained by a process comprising:
selecting a human hepatocyte cell line; a phase of cell proliferation comprising culturing the cells of said human hepatocyte cell line in a suitable culture medium; and a phase of cell differentiation comprising culturing the cells in a suitable culture medium comprising at least 0.5 mM carbamoyl glutamate.