Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In vitro human liver models are critical to mitigate species-specific differences observed for toxicology, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine. Interactions with mesenchyme (i.e., fibroblasts) can promote phenotypic functions of primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) in culture; however, using liver-derived fibroblasts remains elusive. Portal fibroblasts (PFs) around the portal triad influence bile duct formation during development, but their role in regulating homeostatic hepatic functions remains unknown. Here, we show that human liver PFs induce long-term phenotypic functions in PHHs at higher levels than activated hepatic stellate cells across 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional culture formats. While PF-conditioned media induces some hepatic functions, partly via insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 signaling, direct contact is necessary to induce optimal functional levels. Inhibiting Notch signaling reduces progenitor-like characteristics of PHHs and further enhances functionality. Overall, this work demonstrates a unique role for PFs in modulating hepatic functions and provides all-human and all-liver coculture strategies for downstream applications. Human liver portal fibroblasts can enhance and stabilize the functions of primary human hepatocytes in both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional culture formats, and such occurs partly due to insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 signaling.
Source: Communications Biology
Institutions: University of Illinois Chicago, Colorado State University
Language: English
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,190
Awards: G1593674991, G2150666680, G3729393475, CAREER: Towards a stem cell-derived 3D human liver array for high-throughput screening, G7508627528, Biofabrication of Multicompartment Human Liver Tissues for Chemical Screening, G787107837, G9000200775, ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT (CACHET)
OpenAlex ID: W4410235167