title: Hepatocytes in suspension.
abstract: Isolated hepatocytes are a physiologically relevant in vitro model exhibiting intact subcellular organelles, xenobiotic transport, and integrated phase I and phase II biotransformation. They represent the "gold standard" for investigating xenobiotic biotransformation and metabolic bioactivation. When used in suspension, they provide an easy-to-handle and relatively cheap in vitro system that can be used for up to 4 h. The use of animal- and human-derived hepatocytes allows interspecies comparisons of metabolic properties. In contrast with microsomes, which are easily prepared from human liver tissue and can be stored in liquid nitrogen with minimal loss of functionality, cryopreservation of isolated human hepatocytes has been shown to be more difficult: after thawing losses of cell viability and biotransformation capacity occur. We provide general recommendations for the appropriate use of hepatocytes in suspension for pharmaco-toxicological studies. We also provide protocols for the cryopreservation of freshly isolated hepatocytes and their handling on thawing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: Greetje
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elaut
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papeleu
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vinken
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Henkens
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Snykers
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vanhaecke
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rogiers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001711:Biotransformation; D015925:Cryopreservation; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D015262:Xenobiotics