title: Morphological and functional evaluation of isolated rat hepatocytes in three dimensional culture systems.
abstract: Various three-dimensional configurations, such as polyester tissue and woven-nonwoven, hydrophilic polyester fabric, either collagen-coated or uncoated, were investigated as potential scaffold for hepatocyte culture, in view of their use in bioreactors for hybrid liver support systems. Attachment, morphology and ultrastructure of primary adult rat hepatocytes were evaluated, as well as urea production and ammonium detoxification during a 24h incubation period in serum-free tissue culture medium. As control, hepatocytes were also plated onto collagen-coated dextran microcarriers and on plastic petri dishes, either collagen-coated or uncoated. In all the three-dimensional cultures, hepatocytes appeared morphologically intact without any statistically significant difference in metabolic activity. Collagen-coating did not influence cell attachment to polyester substrates, whereas woven-nonwoven hydrophilic polyester fabric may offer some potential advantages as three-dimensional system for hepatocyte culture in hybrid liver support systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Ferrara and Sant'Anna Hospital, Italy.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Puviani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lodi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tassinari
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ottolenghi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganzerli
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pazzi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morsiani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003094:Collagen; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology*; D019164:Liver, Artificial; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D011091:Polyesters; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014508:Urea / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D014508:Urea; D003094:Collagen