Abstract
The achievement of high performance hepatoc tes are required, to establish a new type of hybrid artificial liver. Newly developed cellulose microcarriers are multiporous, and cells are cultured in the inside of the pores of microcarriers as well as on the surface of them. In this study, cellulose microcarriers were investigated of their usefulness for high density culture of hepatocytes. Positively charged cellulose microcarriers revealed the best cell attachment by fibronectin or collagen coating. Intermittent stirring appeared to be the optimal method to attach hepatocytes to microcarriers. The optimal concentration of type I collagen was 0.03% for the attachment of hepatocyte to the carriers, and fibronectin sowed relatively better cell attachment than collagen did on static dish culture method. Hepatocytes, attached on the surface and in the inside of the microcarriers, kept their round-shape and these findings were observed also after 14 days of incubation.
