Immortalized Human Hepatic Cell Lines for In Vitro Testing and Research Purposes.
The ubiquitous shortage of primary human hepatocytes has urged the scientific community to search for alternative cell sources, such as immortalized hepatic cell lines. Over the years, several human hepatic cell lines have been produced, whether or not using a combination of viral oncogenes and human telomerase reverse transcriptase protein. Conditional approaches for hepatocyte immortalization have also been established and allow generation of growth-controlled cell lines. A variety of immortalized human hepatocytes have already proven useful as tools for liver-based in vitro testing and fundamental research purposes. The present chapter describes currently applied immortalization strategies and provides an overview of the actually available immortalized human hepatic cell lines and their in vitro applications.
Department of In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, Brussels, 1090, Belgium, eramboer@vub.ac.be.
Eva
E
Ramboer
Tamara
T
Vanhaecke
Vera
V
Rogiers
Mathieu
M
Vinken
D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012106:Research; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics
D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase