1105 Hepatocyte spheroids cocultured with nonparenchymal cells for engineering

In this study, we aimed to construct the in vitro culture method with in vivo function for tissue engineering and biomedical application, and we confirmed effects of spheroid culture system and co-culture system. It is noted that spheroids significantly express a stable level of liver-specific functions (albumin secretion), compared to the usual cell monolayer. Co-cultivation of hepatocyte with endothelial cells was further essential to stabilize hepatocyte viability and liver-specific function. These results suggested that heterotypic cell-cell interaction within spheroid play important roles to maintain hepatocyte viability and liver-specific functions, which is more effective for BAEC than for HUVEC. This co-culture system is highly useful for tissue engineering and biomedical application.