Investigation of Hepatoprotective Activity of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in the Mouse Model of Liver Injury

• Published in: Journal of biomedicine & biotechnology 2011, Vol.2011 (2011), p.1-11
• Main Authors: Hsieh, Jung-Hung, Huang, Hsu-Shan, Chiou, Shih Hwa, Lee, Fa-Yauh, Lee, Shou-Dong, Chiang, Chih-Hung, Hung, Shuen-Iu, Jeng, Shaw-Yeu, Tsai, Ping-Hsing, Chang, Ching-Chih, Huang, Hui-Chun, Chen, Yi-Jen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1110-7243; 1110-7251

To date liver transplantation is the only effective treatment for end-stage liver diseases. Considering the potential of pluripotency and differentiation into tridermal lineages, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may serve as an alternative of cell-based therapy. Herein, we investigated the effect of iPSC transplantation on thioacetamide- (TAA-) induced acute/fulminant hepatic failure (AHF) in mice. Firstly, we demonstrated that iPSCs had the capacity to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-Heps) that expressed various hepatic markers, including albumin, α-fetoprotein, and hepatocyte nuclear factor-3β, and exhibited biological functions. Intravenous transplantation of iPSCs effectively reduced the hepatic necrotic area, improved liver functions and motor activity, and rescued TAA-treated mice from lethal AHF. 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate cell labeling revealed that iPSCs potentially mobilized to the damaged liver area. Taken together, iPSCs can effectively rescue experimental AHF and represent a potentially favorable cell source of cell-based therapy.