Need Help With This Product?
Our specialists are here to help you find the best product for your application.
Hepatoblasts, progenitor cells found in the liver, are defined as endoderm lineage-derived bipotential cells that can differentiate into hepatocytes or cholangiocytes (Figure 1).
Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics has identified the time point in differentiation where endoderm-specific markers are declining and hepatocyte-specific markers are not significantly expressed (Figure 2). This time point is when our commercially available iCell® Hepatoblasts are cryopreserved.
Upon reanimation, iCell Hepatoblasts are ideal for therapeutic research aimed at liver regeneration via the identification of molecules and factors capable of stimulating progenitor cell proliferation/regeneration. They are also perfect for pro/anti hepatocyte differentiation and pro/anti cholangiocyte differentiation assays. In addition, iCell Hepatoblasts can be combined with iCell Endothelial Cells, iCell Hepatocytes, iCell Macrophages, and iCell Mesenchymal Stem Cells to engineer complex liver models for in vitro and in vivo applications. These cell combinations enable disease model building by providing access to multiple liver cell types from a single donor for co-culture.
iCell Hepatoblasts retain proliferative capacity in vitro, supplying a dynamic cell population that is driven to differentiate (Figure 3). FCDI provides detailed stepwise instructions for thawing, plating, culturing, and differentiating iCell Hepatoblasts into hepatocytes or cholangiocytes.
Figure 3: (A) iCell Hepatoblasts demonstrate proliferative potential post-thaw. The cells show evidence of increasing cell number by incorporation of ethidium containing nucleosides into newly synthesized DNA under both hepatocyte- and cholangiocyte-favoring induction conditions. (B, C) iCell Hepatoblasts retain the potential to differentiate into a hepatocyte or cholangiocyte as evidenced by A1AT and CK7 staining. Images were taken 7 days post-thaw following FCDI’s application protocols.Contact FCDI’S Technical Support to learn more about iCell Hepatoblasts and other ways we can further your research through iPS cell technology.
Our specialists are here to help you find the best product for your application.
Our regular business hours are 9:00am to 5:00pm Central Time (USA)
Our specialists are here to help you find the best product for your application.
Our regular business hours are 9:00am to 5:00pm Central Time (USA)
iCell Hepatoblasts retain the potential to differentiate into both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. This population of human hepatoblasts is derived from iPS cells using CDI’s proprietary differentiation and purification protocols. These cells provide a reliable source of human hepatoblasts that are suitable for use in
Figure 1: iCell Hepatoblasts Represent a Population of Bipotential Cells
Figure 2: Flow Cytometry Analysis of A1AT Expression in Hepatocytes Differentiated from iCell Hepatoblasts
In this representative experiment, iCell Hepatoblasts are differentiated into hepatocytes as indicated by the increase in A1AT expression in the induced condition. Acquisition and analysis were performed using a BD Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer (BD Biosciences).
In this representative experiment, iCell Hepatoblasts were differentiated into cholangiocytes as indicated by the increase in CK7 expression in the induced condition (with 20 ng/ml activin A). Acquisition and analysis were performed using a BD Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer (BD Biosciences).
Figure 3: Flow Cytometry Analysis of A1AT and CK7 Expression in Cholangiocytes Differentiated from iCell Hepatoblasts