Friend J R, Wu F J, Hansen L K, Remmel R P, Hu W S
Department of Chemical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Methods Mol Med. 1999;18:245-52. doi: 10.1385/0-89603-516-6:245.
Several investigators have demonstrated that freshly harvested hepatocytes self-assemble into three-dimensional, compacted, freely suspended aggregates known as spheroids (1-3). These aggregates have smooth, undulating surfaces and average approx 120 µm in diameter. Hepatocyte spheroids exhibit enhanced liver-specific activities and prolonged viability, compared to cells maintained as a monolayer (4,5). Extensive cell-cell contacts, tight junctions, and microvilli-lined channels that resemble bile canaliculi have been observed between hepatocytes in spheroids (6,7). Thus, these cells appear to mimic the morphology and ultrastructure of an in vivo liver lobule. Reorganization of hepatocytes into these three-dimensional structures is hypothesized to contribute to their enhanced liver-specific functions. Because of their enhanced function and tissue-like ultrastructure, hepatocyte spheroids show great promise for use in tissue-engineering applications and drug metabolism studies.
几位研究人员已经证明， freshly harvested hepatocytes 可以自我组装成三维的、紧密的、自由悬浮的聚集体，即球体(1-3)。这些聚集体表面光滑、起伏不平，平均直径约为120μm。与单层培养的细胞相比，肝细胞球体表现出增强的肝脏特异性活性和延长的活力(4,5)。在球体中的肝细胞之间观察到广泛的细胞间接触、紧密连接以及类似于胆小管的微绒毛内衬通道(6,7)。因此，这些细胞似乎模仿了体内肝小叶的形态和超微结构。肝细胞重组为这些三维结构被认为有助于其增强的肝脏特异性功能。由于其增强的功能和组织样的超微结构，肝细胞球体在组织工程应用和药物代谢研究中显示出巨大的应用前景。
