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Updated: Mar 5, 2026
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"Liver-on-a-Chip" Cultures of Primary Hepatocytes and Kupffer Cells for Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Published on: February 19, 2019
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Harnessing endogenous signals from hepatocytes using a low volume multi-well plate
Pantea Gheibi1, Kyung Jin Son, Gulnaz Stybayeva
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Summary
This study presents a novel multiwell plate system for culturing primary hepatocytes, maintaining their differentiated phenotype and function. This accessible platform enhances hepatic cell culture for research and bioartificial liver applications.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Biotechnology
- Hepatology
Background:
- Primary hepatocytes lose differentiation and function outside the body.
- Maintaining hepatic function in vitro is crucial for drug testing and liver support systems.
- Current methods like co-culturing and spheroids have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an accessible cell culture system for maintaining primary hepatocyte phenotype and function.
- To transition findings from specialized microfluidic devices to standard laboratory equipment.
- To leverage low-volume culture effects in a multiwell plate format.
Main Methods:
- 3D printing and micromolding to create inserts for standard 12-well plates.
- Establishing low-volume culture conditions for primary hepatocytes.
- Utilizing hepatic function assays (albumin synthesis) and HGF signaling analysis.
Main Results:
- Primary hepatocytes maintained differentiated phenotype and function in the novel multiwell plates.
- Upregulation of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was confirmed in the low-volume cultures.
- Inhibition of HGF signaling led to degradation of the hepatic phenotype.
Conclusions:
- The developed multiwell plate system effectively maintains primary hepatocyte differentiation and function.
- This system mimics microfluidic benefits in an accessible, standard laboratory format.
- The platform shows potential for culturing other challenging cell types like stem and cancer cells.
