2016 Volume 21 Issue 2 Pages 63-70
The biotransformation activity of the liver is a major concern of medical and chemical production processes. Human cryopreserved hepatocytes are widely used for in vitro analysis of metabolites identification and toxicity evaluation of drug candidates or chemical compounds. However, cryopreservation causes cell damage and leads to decreased cell functionality and viability after thawing. To overcome such disadvantages, a variety of cryopreservation and culture methods have been developed. In this study, cryopreserved human hepatocytes and HepG2 cells were cultured under suspension conditions with FP001, a newly developed gellan gum-based cell culture material, after thawing. Under suspension conditions, cell damage was decreased compared with that under monolayer conditions. Combined with gene expression analysis of cell adhesion-related genes, our results suggested that FP001 contributed to decreased damage and increased viability of cryopreserved cells by altering the expression of genes involved in cell-cell adhesion.
