title: Loofa sponge as a scaffold for the culture of human hepatocyte cell line.
abstract: Loofa sponge was investigated as a three-dimensional scaffold for stationary and perfusion culture of human hepatoblastoma cell line C3A/HepG2. In stationary culture, C3A/HepG2 cells in loofa cubes showed higher alpha-fetoprotein and albumin secretion rates than those in polyurethane foam (PU). To use loofa cylinders in a packed-bed reactor, immobilization of C3A/HepG2 cells by recirculating medium at 26 mL/min (superficial velocity = 51.7 cm/min) resulted in a cell loading density of 5.15 x 10(7) cells/cm(3)-loofa. This cell loading density is higher than values reported in the literature for packed-bed reactor intended for bioartificial liver. During 9 days of perfusion culture in the reactor, immobilized C3A/HepG2 showed steady synthesis of albumin with an average synthesis rate at 42.2 microg/10(6) cells/day. These experimental results and observations by SEM suggested that loofa sponge is a suitable scaffold for high-density culture of human hepatocyte cell line and the immobilized cells could express high levels of liver-specific functions.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biochemical and Biomedical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Kwei-San, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Jyh-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Sheng-Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Brend Ray-Sea
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Shin-Huei
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Hwai-Shen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000418:Albumins / Q000378:metabolism; D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D019149:Bioreactors; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D018197:Hepatoblastoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D019164:Liver, Artificial; D029776:Luffa / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000418:Albumins; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D000641:Ammonia