Generation of hepatocyte-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells for drug screening

Abstract

Human embryonic stem (ES) cell and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell have ability to differentiate into all body cells, including hepatocytes. Hepatocyte-like cells generated from human ES/iPS cells are expected to be utilized in medical application such as drug screening. However, the existing protocols for hepatic differentiation of pluripotent stem cells are not enough efficient. To promote hepatic differentiation, we developed an efficient method to differentiate hepatocyte-like cells from human ES/iPS cells by overexpression of the hepatocyte-related genes. In this review, we will introduce the present status and feature view of the hepatic differentiation from human ES/iPS cells.