Treatment of liver disease with orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) carries considerable morbidity and mortality. Moreover, due to organ shortages, thousands of people die each year without getting transplanted. Therefore, safer and more convenient alternative therapies will benefit many people requiring liver transplantation. An approach that might address this problem is the development of a proliferative cell line that expresses liver-specific genes which could be employed for cell transplantation or for a bioartificial liver. Developing such a line from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) would also provide cells valuable for pharmacology and toxicology studies.
Specific Aims : 1) to determine conditions for directing the hESC to differentiate into hepatocytes in vitro; 2) to characterize the differentiated hESC; 3) to establish the in vivo potential of hESC in NOD-SCID mice; and 4) to establish the in vivo potential or hESC in nonhuman primates. Methods: A variety of conditions will be empirically assayed to delineate the most effective approach to differentiate the hESC along a hepatocyte lineage. This will include empiric studies of optimizing media, extracellular matrix, and growth factors. The purity of the cells will be enhanced with transduction of liver-specific lent virus vectors. The purified cells will be characterized with assays of liver-specific gene products, growth factor responsiveness, and potential oncogenicity. To determine whether the cells can engraft, proliferate, and function after transplantation, studies will be conducted in immunodeficient NOD- SCID mouse models of liver cell injury and in nonhuman primates. Innovative imaging approaches will be utilized to assess the viability and proliferation of the cells over time in vivo. Health Relatedness: If the studies are successfully undertaken, it will provide for the development of an unlimited source of differentiated human hepatocytes that can be used for toxicology and pharmacology studies, and can be employed in cell-based therapeutics in man. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01DK075415-01A1
Application #
7266769
Study Section
Hepatobiliary Pathophysiology Study Section (HBPP)
Program Officer
Serrano, Jose
Project Start
2007-03-15
Project End
2011-02-28
Budget Start
2007-03-15
Budget End
2008-02-29
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$295,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Davis
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
047120084
City
Davis
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
95618
Chen, Jiamei; Chen, Long; Zern, Mark A et al. (2017) The diversity and plasticity of adult hepatic progenitor cells and their niche. Liver Int 37:1260-1271
Chen, Jiamei; Gao, Wei; Zhou, Ping et al. (2016) Enhancement of hepatocyte differentiation from human embryonic stem cells by Chinese medicine Fuzhenghuayu. Sci Rep 6:18841
Zeng, Changjun; Zhang, Yanling; Park, Su Cheol et al. (2015) CD34(+) Liver Cancer Stem Cells Were Formed by Fusion of Hepatobiliary Stem/Progenitor Cells with Hematopoietic Precursor-Derived Myeloid Intermediates. Stem Cells Dev 24:2467-78
Park, Su Cheol; Zeng, Changjun; Tschudy-Seney, Benjamin et al. (2015) Clonogenically Culturing and Expanding CD34+ Liver Cancer Stem Cells in Vitro. Stem Cells Dev 24:1506-14
Park, Su Cheol; Nguyen, Ngoc Tue; Eun, Jong Ryeol et al. (2015) Identification of cancer stem cell subpopulations of CD34(+) PLC/PRF/5 that result in three types of human liver carcinomas. Stem Cells Dev 24:1008-21
Gao, Wei; Zhou, Ping; Ma, Xiaocui et al. (2014) Ethanol negatively regulates hepatic differentiation of hESC by inhibition of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in vitro. PLoS One 9:e112698
Eun, Jong Ryeol; Jung, Yong Jin; Zhang, Yanling et al. (2014) Hepatoma SK Hep-1 cells exhibit characteristics of oncogenic mesenchymal stem cells with highly metastatic capacity. PLoS One 9:e110744
Ma, Xiaocui; Duan, Yuyou; Tschudy-Seney, Benjamin et al. (2013) Highly efficient differentiation of functional hepatocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells Transl Med 2:409-19
Jung, Christine J; Iyengar, Sushma; Blahnik, Kimberly R et al. (2012) Human ESC self-renewal promoting microRNAs induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocytes by controlling the PTEN and TGF? tumor suppressor signaling pathways. Mol Cancer Res 10:979-91
Chen, Xiaoli; Lingala, Shilpa; Khoobyari, Shiva et al. (2011) Epithelial mesenchymal transition and hedgehog signaling activation are associated with chemoresistance and invasion of hepatoma subpopulations. J Hepatol 55:838-45

Showing the most recent 10 out of 18 publications