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* These authors contributed equally
Here, we present a novel humanized mouse liver model generated in Alb-toxin receptor mediated cell knockout (TRECK)/SCID mice following the transplantation of immature and expandable human hepatic stem cells.
A novel animal model involving chimeric mice with humanized livers established via human hepatocyte transplantation has been developed. These mice, in which the liver has been repopulated with functional human hepatocytes, could serve as a useful tool for investigating human hepatic cell biology, drug metabolism, and other preclinical applications. One of the key factors required for successful transplantation of human hepatocytes into mice is the elimination of the endogenous hepatocytes to prevent competition with the human cells and provide a suitable space and microenvironment for promoting human donor cell expansion and differentiation. To date, two major liver injury mouse models utilizing fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (Fah) and uroplasminogen activator (uPA) mice have been established. However, Fah mice are used mainly with mature hepatocytes and the application of the uPA model is limited by decreased breeding. To overcome these limitations, Alb-toxin receptor mediated cell knockout (TRECK)/SCID mice were used for in vivo differentiation of immature human hepatocytes and humanized liver generation. Human hepatic stem cells (HpSCs) successfully repopulated the livers of Alb-TRECK/SCID mice that had developed lethal fulminant hepatic failure following diphtheria toxin (DT) treatment. This model of a humanized liver in Alb-TRECK/SCID mice will have functional applications in studies involving drug metabolism and drug-drug interactions and will promote other in vivo and in vitro studies.
Mice are commonly used for pharmaceutical testing since biomedical research in humans is restricted1; however, these models are not always useful since they may inaccurately simulate the effects observed in humans. Most drugs in current medical use are metabolized primarily in the liver. However, the same drug can be metabolized into different metabolites in mouse and human livers because of inter-species differences. Thus, it is often difficult to determine during development whether a potential drug poses any risks for clinical applications2,3.
To address this problem, "humanized" mouse livers have been developed by....
All animal experimental procedures were performed according to the Animal Protection Guidelines of Yokohama City University.
1. Generation of the Acute Liver Injury Mouse Model
Alb-TRECK/SCID mice hepatocytes express the human DT receptor HB-EGF gene under the control of an albumin promoter and exhibit cytotoxic effects following DT administration12. To evaluate the effects of DT treatment on liver injury, DT doses of 1.5 μg/kg were injected into 8-week-old Alb-TRECK/SCID mice and the pathological changes in the liver 48 hr post DT administration were histologically assessed. Compared with control mice (not treated with DT), the DT-treated mice e.......
Recent studies have shown that the mouse liver can be repopulated with human hepatocytes, including adult hepatocytes and proliferative hepatic stem cells17. These repopulated livers have been used as preclinical experimental models for drug metabolism testing and drug discovery and development18; in addition, they have provided an in vivo environment for cell maturation and differentiation19. The major aim of the present study was to generate a novel liver disease mouse model th.......
The authors have no competing financial interests to disclose.
We wish to thank the Mammalian Genetics Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, for providing the mice. We also thank S. Aoyama and Y. Adachi of the ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion) & Toxicology Research Institute, Sekisui Medical Company Ltd., Japan, and K. Kozakai and Y. Yamada for assistance with LC-MS/MS analysis. This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan to Y-W.Z. (18591421, 20591531, and 23591872); by the Jiangsu innovative and entrepreneurial project for the introduction of high-level talent and the Jiangsu science and technology....
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments | |
Human albumin | Sigma | A6684 | Mouse | IgG2a |
Human CK19 | Dako | M088801 | Mouse | IgG1 |
Human nuclei | Millipore | MAB1281 | Mouse | IgG1 |
Human CK8/18 | Progen | GP11 | Guinea pig | Polyclonal |
CDCP1 | Biolegend | 324006 | Mouse | IgG2b |
CD90 | BD | 559869 | Mouse | IgG1 |
CD66 | BD | 551479 | Mouse | IgG2a |
GOT/AST-PIII | Fujifilm | 14A2X10004000009 | ||
DMEM/F-12 | Gibco | 11320-033 | ||
FBS | Biowest | S1520 | ||
0.05% Trypsin-EDTA | Gibco | 25300-054 | ||
Diphtheria Toxin | Sigma | D0564-1MG | ||
Human Albumin ELISA Kit | Bethyl Laboratories | E88-129 | ||
Syringe (1ml) | Terumo | SS-01T | ||
32G 1/2" needle | TSK | PRE-32013 | ||
O.C.T.Compound(118ml) | Sakura Finetek Japan | 4583 | ||
MoFlo high-speed cell sorter | Beckman Coulter | B25982 | ||
DRI-CHEM 7000 | Fujifilm | 14B2X10002000046 |
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