Three-dimensional culture of porcine fetal liver cells for a bioartificial liver

A three‐dimensional (3‐D) culture experiment of porcine fetal liver cells (FLCs) was performed using a porous resin substrate, for the purpose of developing a bioartificial liver. A long‐term 3‐D culture and monolayer culture as the control were performed for more than 1 month. To promote cell growth and maturation, human oncostatin M (OSM), the human leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), or cortisol was added to the cultures, and the effect of each agent on cell proliferation and liver‐specific cellular functions was investigated. The cell numbers in both the monolayer and 3‐D cultures increased gradually with time, irrespective of the supplementation of the stimulating agents. In the monolayer culture, the albumin secretion of FLCs decreased rapidly, and scarce activity was detected from 2 weeks onward under all culture conditions tested. In the 3‐D cultures, neither human OSM nor human LIF had any definite effect on the albumin secretion of FLCs. However, in the cultures with cortisol, albumin secretion was maintained for a considerably long period. These findings suggest that a bioartificial liver can be developed by culturing porcine FLCs with cortisol as the stimulant. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., J Biomed Mater Res, 2006