Hepatocyte-like cells derived from human amniotic epithelial cells can be encapsulated without loss of viability or function in vitro

V Vaghjiani; V Vaithilingam; I Saraswati; A Sali; P Murthi; B Kalionis; BE Tuch; U Manuelpillai

Journal article

Hepatocyte-like cells derived from human amniotic epithelial cells can be encapsulated without loss of viability or function in vitro

V Vaghjiani, V Vaithilingam, I Saraswati, A Sali, P Murthi, B Kalionis, BE Tuch, U Manuelpillai

Stem Cells and Development | MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC | Published : 2014

DOI: 10.1089/scd.2013.0485

Abstract

Placenta derived human amniotic epithelial cells (hAEC) are an attractive source of stem cells for the generation of hepatocyte-like cells (HLC) for therapeutic applications to treat liver diseases. During hAEC differentiation into HLC, they become increasingly immunogenic, which may result in immune cell-mediated rejection upon transplantation into allogeneic recipients. Placing cells within devices such as alginate microcapsules can prevent immune cell-mediated rejection. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of HLC generated from hAEC and to examine the effects of encapsulation on HLC viability, gene expression, and function. hAEC were differentiated for 4 weeks and..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Bill Kalionis Author

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Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

Study funded by a SMART grant from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute. U. M. is supported by a Researcher Accelerator Award from Monash University and B. K. by NHMRC grant no. 509178, KAIMRC grant no. RC08/114, and KACST grant no. ARP-29-186. V. Vaghjiani and U.M. are supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program.