iCell Hepatoblasts, 01434

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.