Novel hepatocyte-like cells and hepatoblast-like cells derived from hbs cells

摘要

The present invention relates to a novel hepatocyte-like cell population derived from hBS cells and to the potential use of such heopatocyte-like cells in e.g. medical treatment, drug screening and toxicity testing. Furthermore, the invention relates to hepatoblast-like cells that may have suitable characteristics so that they can be used for the same applications as the hepatocyte-like cells and that furthermore may be used in in vitro studies of hepatogenesis such as early hepatogenesis or hepato-regenerative disorders. Both the hepatocyte-like and the hepatoblast-like cells according to the invention express drug transporter and/or drug metabolising characteristics either at the gene or protein expression level.