Innovation Pipeline

All-Human Hepatic Triculture
Hepatic Triculture Schematic

 

LifeNet Health LifeSciences’ All-human Hepatic Triculture System is currently in product development. This in vitro assay system is comprised entirely of primary human cells: hepatocytes, endothelial, and stromal cells from donated human tissues. This system extends the viability, functionality, and metabolic capacity of primary human hepatocytes for at least four weeks. The cell populations are cultured collectively and allowed to self-assemble into hepatocyte cords, representative of native tissue. The extended culture period and physiological relevance makes the triculture system an ideal platform for drug discovery and development applications that require prolonged or repeated chemical exposures.

 

Confocal image of LifeNet Health LifeSciences all-human Hepatic Tri-Culture system at day 28
Immunofluorescent image of LifeNet Health LifeSciences all-human Hepatic Tri-Culture system at day 28 stained to show each cell type. Hepatocytes are stained in red to show albumin production, stromal cell nuceli are stained blue with DAPI, and the endothelial cells are stained for CD31 in green.

The triculture system mimics the microarchitecture of the human liver. A) Confocal microscopy, B) Staining for different cell types – hepatocytes (red staining depicts albumin), stromal cells (depicted by only blue stain [DAPI] for nuclei), and endothelial cells (green staining with CD31)

Triculture image stained for CK18 showing hepatocyte island formation
LifeNet Health LifeSciences all-human hepatic triculture system stained to show bile canaliculi formation at 100X Magnification

Triculture system showing A) hepatocyte colonies (red: CK-18 and blue: DAPI) and B) bile canaliculi formation at 100X

Immunofluorescent image of LifeNet Health LifeSciences all-human hepatic triculture system at day 14 stained with marker ZO-1 for tight junctions
Immunofluorescent image of LifeNet Health LifeSciences all-human hepatic triculture system at day 14 stained with marker CX-32 for gap junctions

The junctional complexes resemble in vivo microarchitecture and cell polarity in the triculture system. A) tight junctions marker ZO-1 and B) gap junction marker Cx-32

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