摘要
Various liver diseases result in terminal hepatic failure, and liver transplantation, cell transplantation and artificial liver support systems are emerging as effective therapies for severe hepatic disease. However, all of these treatments are limited by organ or cell resources, so developing a sufficient number of functional hepatocytes for liver regeneration is a priority. Liver regeneration is a complex process regulated by growth factors （GFs）, cytokines, transcription factors （TFs）, hormones, oxidative stress products, metabolic net- works, and microRNA. It is well-known that the function of isolated primary hepatocytes is hard to maintain; when cultured in vitro, these cells readily undergo dedifferentia- tion, causing them to lose hepatocyte function. For this mason, most studies focus on inducing stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells （ESCs）, induced pluripotent stem cells （iPSCs）, hepatic progenitor cells （HPCs）, and mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs）, to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells （HLCs） in vitro. In this review, we mainly focus on the nature of the liver regeneration process and discuss how to main- tain and enhance in vitro hepatic function of isolated primary hepatocytes or stem cell-derived HLCs for liver regenera- tion. In this way, hepatocytes or HLCs may be applied for clinical use for the treatment of terminal liver diseases and may prolong the survival time of patients in the near future.
Various liver diseases result in terminal hepatic failure, and liver transplantation, cell transplantation and artificial liver support systems are emerging as effective therapies for severe hepatic disease. However, all of these treatments are limited by organ or cell resources, so developing a sufficient number of functional hepatocytes for liver regeneration is a priority. Liver regeneration is a complex process regulated by growth factors （GFs）, cytokines, transcription factors （TFs）, hormones, oxidative stress products, metabolic net- works, and microRNA. It is well-known that the function of isolated primary hepatocytes is hard to maintain; when cultured in vitro, these cells readily undergo dedifferentia- tion, causing them to lose hepatocyte function. For this mason, most studies focus on inducing stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells （ESCs）, induced pluripotent stem cells （iPSCs）, hepatic progenitor cells （HPCs）, and mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs）, to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells （HLCs） in vitro. In this review, we mainly focus on the nature of the liver regeneration process and discuss how to main- tain and enhance in vitro hepatic function of isolated primary hepatocytes or stem cell-derived HLCs for liver regenera- tion. In this way, hepatocytes or HLCs may be applied for clinical use for the treatment of terminal liver diseases and may prolong the survival time of patients in the near future.
