Human Liver Spheroids from Peripheral Blood for Liver Disease Studies

Summary

Here we present a non-genetic method to generate human autologous liver spheroids using mononuclear cells isolated from steady-state peripheral blood.

Abstract

Human liver cells can form a three-dimensional (3D) structure capable of growing in culture for some weeks, preserving their functional capacity. Due to their nature to cluster in the culture dishes with low or no adhesive characteristics, they form aggregates of multiple liver cells that are called human liver spheroids. The forming of 3D liver spheroids relies on the natural tendency of hepatic cells to aggregate in the absence of an adhesive substrate. These 3D structures possess better physiological responses than cells, which are closer to an in vivo environment. Using 3D hepatocyte cultures has numerous advantages when compared with classical two-dimensional (2D) cultures, including a more biologically relevant microenvironment, architectural morphology that reassembles natural organs as well as a better prediction regarding disease state and in vivo-like responses to drugs. Various sources can be used to generate spheroids, like primary liver tissue or immortalized cell lines. The 3D liver tissue can also be engineered by using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) or induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to derive hepatocytes. We have obtained human liver spheroids using blood-derived pluripotent stem cells (BD-PSCs) generated from unmanipulated peripheral blood by activation of human membrane-bound GPI-linked protein and differentiated to human hepatocytes. The BD-PSCs-derived human liver cells and human liver spheroids were analyzed by light microscopy and immunophenotyping using human hepatocyte markers.

Introduction

In recent years three-dimensional (3D) spheroid culture systems have become an important tool to study various areas of cancer research, drug discovery, and toxicology. Such cultures raise great interest because they bridge the gap between two-dimensional (2D) cell culture monolayers and complex organs¹.

In the absence of an adhesive surface, compared to the 2D cell culture, the formation of spheroids is based on the natural affinity of these cells to cluster in 3D form. These cells organize themselves into groups consisting of one or more types of mature cells. Free of foreign materials, these cells interact with ea....

Protocol

Ethical approval was obtained (ACA CELL Biotech GmbH/25b-5482.2-64-1) for performing these experiments and informed consent was signed by all donors before blood extraction in compliance with institutional guidelines.

1. Preparation of mononuclear cells (MNCs) from human peripheral blood (PB)

1. Extract 30 mL of blood from healthy donors with the help of trained medical personnel according to the standard protocol.
2. Isolate PBMNCs using density gradient media.......

Discussion

The liver is a major organ in the human body with many essential biological functions, such as the detoxification of metabolites. Due to severe liver failures like cirrhosis and/or viral hepatitis, there are nearly 2 million deaths per year worldwide. Liver transplantations rank second in solid organ transplantations worldwide, but only about 10% of the current need is met²².

Primary human hepatocytes (PHH) are often used to study liver toxicity. These cells can be main.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Albumin antibody	Sigma-Aldrich	SAB3500217	produced in chicken
Albumin Fraction V	Carl Roth GmbH+Co. KG	T8444.4
Alpha-1 Fetoprotein	Proteintech Germany GmbH	14550-1-AP	rabbit polyclonal IgG
Biolaminin 111 LN	BioLamina	LN111-02	human recombinant
CD45 MicroBeads	Miltenyi	130-045-801	nano-sized magnetic beads
Cell Strainer	pluriSelect	43-10040-40
CellSens	Olympus		imaging software
Centrifuge tubes 50 mL	Greiner Bio-One	210270
CEROplate 96 well	OLS OMNI Life Science	2800-109-96
CKX53	Olympus
Commercially available detergent	Procter & Gamble		nonionic detergent
CYP2E1-specific antibody	Proteintech Germany GmbH	19937-1-AP	rabbit polyclonal antibody IgG
CYP3A4	Proteintech Germany GmbH	67110-1-lg	mouse monoclonal antibody IgG1
Cytokeratin 18	DakoCytomation	M7010	mouse monoclonal antibody IgG1
DMSO	Sigma-Aldrich	D8418-50ML
DPBS	Thermo Fisher Scientific	14040091
FBS	Merck Millipore	S0115/1030B	Discontinued. Available under: TMS-013-B
Glass cover slips 14 mm	R. Langenbrinck	01-0014/1
GlutaMax 100x Gibco	Thermo Fisher Scientific	35050038	L-glutamine
Glutaraldehyde 25%	Sigma-Aldrich	G588.2-50ML
Goat anti-mouse IgG Cy3	Antibodies online	ABIN1673767	polyclonal
Goat anti-mouse IgG DyLight 488	Antibodies online	ABIN1889284	polyclonal
Goat anti-rabbit IgG Alexa Fluor 488	Life Technologies	A-11008
HCl	Sigma-Aldrich	30721-1LGL
HepatoZYME-SFM	Thermo Fisher Scientific	17705021	hepatocyte maturation medium
HGF	Thermo Fisher Scientific	PHG0324	human recombinant
HNF4α antibody	Sigma-Aldrich	ZRB1457-25UL	clone 4C19 ZooMAb Rbmono
Hydrocortisone 21-hemisuccinate (sodium salt)	Biomol	Cay18226-100
Knock out Serum Replacement - Multi Species Gibco	Fisher Scientific	A3181501	KSR
KnockOut DMEM/F-12	Thermo Fisher Scientific	12660012	Discontinued. Available under Catalog No. 10-828-010
MACS Buffer	Miltenyi	130-091-221
MACS MultiStand	Miltenyi	130-042-303	magnetic stand
MEM NEAA 100x Gibco	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11140035
Mercaptoethanol	Thermo Fisher Scientific	31350010	50mM
MiniMACS columns	Miltenyi	130-042-201
Nunclon Multidishes	Sigma-Aldrich	D6789	4 well plates
Oncostatin M	Thermo Fisher Scientific	PHC5015	human recombinant
Paraformaldehyde	Sigma-Aldrich	158127
PBS sterile	Carl Roth GmbH+Co. KG	9143.2
Penicillin/Streptomycin	Biochrom GmbH	A2213	10000 U/ml
PS 15ml tubes sterile	Greiner Bio-One	188171
Rabbit anti-chicken IgG Texas red	Antibodies online	ABIN637943
Roti Cell Iscoves MDM	Carl Roth GmbH+Co. KG	9033.1
Roti Mount FluorCare DAPI	Carl Roth GmbH+Co. KG	HP20.1
Roti Sep 1077 human	Carl Roth GmbH+Co. KG	0642.2
Transthyretin antibody	Sigma-Aldrich	SAB3500378	produced in chicken
Triton X-100	Thermo Fisher Scientific	HFH10	1%