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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Isolation of Regenerating Hepatocytes after Partial Hepatectomy in Mice
Published on: December 2, 2022
Controlling the selective and directional migration of hepatocytes by a complementary density gradient of
Su Liang1, Shan Yu1, Ning Zhou1
1MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
Abstract:
Repair and regeneration of defected tissues and organs depends strongly on the directional migration of targeted cells, for example, the enhancement of directional migration of hepatocytes could be helpful in liver regeneration and transplantation. Herein a complementary gradient of galactose-modified hyperbranched polymers (LA-HPMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecules was designed and prepared on a same substrate. Characterizations of X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-d) demonstrated the unidirectional change in grafting density of LA-HPMA and PEG molecules, respectively. On the LA-HPMA/PEG complementary gradient surface, the human hepatoma (HepG2) cells showed preferential orientation and enhanced directional migration toward the region of lower PEG density and higher LA-HPMA density. By contrast, the mouse embryonic fibroblasts (NIH3T3) showed random migration irrelevant to the gradient. The success of the complementary gradient relies on the specific interaction between galactose and asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) expressed on HepG2 cells. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE.
