Development of a hepatic differentiation method for embryonic stem ce l I s and i nduced p l ur i potent stem ce l I s and its application to a hybrid artificial I i ver

在这项研究中，我们尝试用原始培养方法将胚胎干细胞（ES）和诱导多能干细胞（iPS）细胞分化成肝脏谱系，其中培养的细胞自发形成多细胞聚集体。我们还根据我们的培养方法开发了一种混合型人工肝装置，并通过动物实验证明了该装置的可行性。在建立的培养方法中，ES细胞和iPS细胞经过2周的肝分化诱导后，表达了一些肝脏特异性功能。在动物实验中，观察了本研究设计的混合型人工肝装置的疗效。总之，我们的装置含有胚胎干细胞或iPS细胞，可能是肝脏支持系统的有用生物成分。

In this study, we attempt to differentiate embryonic stem(ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem(iPS) cells into hepatic lineage using an original culture method in which cultured cells spontaneously form multicellular aggregates. We also developed a hybrid artificial liver device based on our culture method and demonstrated the feasibility of the device by animal experiments. ES cells and iPS cells expressed some liver specific functions after 2 weeks of the hepatic differentiation induction in the established culture method. In the animal experiments, the curative effects of the hybrid artificial liver device designed in this study were observed. In conclusion, our device containing ES cells or iPS cells may be a useful biocomponent of a liver support system.