3D Hepatic Tissue Formed by iPSC-Derived Hepatocytes Using a Cell Fiber Technology

In this paper, we demonstrate that hepatocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) could promote their cell characteristics in cell-laden core-shell microfiber. The iPSC-hepatocytes are expected as cell source for regenerative medicine and chemical screening in drug development, but the cells are known to lose their properties in conventional two-dimensional (2D) culture immediately. Here we show that the iPSC-hepatocytes could be encapsulated into extracellular-matrix (ECM)-rich three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment by using microfluidic device system (named as “cell fiber technique”), and highly expressed hepatocyte-associated proteins and genes in the fibers. Furthermore, the fibers could be useful as functional grafts. These results indicate that the cell fiber can be applicable to in vitro construction of 3D hepatic tissue owing to spatial regulation of culture environment.