Scientific publications
Oxygen control in bioreactor drives high yield production of functional hiPSC-like hepatocytes for advanced liver disease modelling. Scientific Publication
Pedro Vicente 1 2, Joana I Almeida 1 2 3, Inês E Crespo 1 2, Nikolaus Virgolini 1 2, Inês A Isidro 1 2, Maria Eréndira Calleja-Cervantes 4, Juan R Rodriguez-Madoz 4 5 6, Felipe Prosper 4 7 5 6, Paula M Alves 1 2, Margarida Serra 8 9
Hepatocytes-like cells (HLC) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells show great promise for cell-based liver therapies and disease modelling. However, their application is currently hindered by the low production yields of existing protocols.
We aim to develop a bioprocess able to generate high numbers of HLC. We used stirred-tank bioreactors with a rational control of dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) for the optimization of HLC production as 3D aggregates. We evaluated the impact of controlling DO at physiological levels (4%O2) during hepatic progenitors' stage on cell proliferation and differentiation efficiency.
Whole transcriptome analysis and biochemical assays were performed to provide a detailed characterization of HLC quality attributes. When DO was controlled at 4%O2 during the hepatic progenitors' stage, cells presented an upregulation of genes associated with hypoxia-inducible factor pathway and a downregulation of oxidative stress genes. This condition promoted higher HLC production (maximum cell concentration: 2 × 106 cell/mL) and improved differentiation efficiencies (80% Albumin-positive cells) when compared to the bioreactor operated under atmospheric oxygen levels (21%O2, 0.6 × 106 cell/mL, 43% Albumin positive cells). These HLC exhibited functional characteristics of hepatocytes: capacity to metabolize drugs, ability to synthesize hepatic metabolites, and inducible cytochrome P450 activity.
Bioprocess robustness was confirmed with HLC derived from different donors, including a primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) patient. The generated PH1.HLC showed metabolic features of PH1 disease with higher secretion of oxalate compared with HLC generated from healthy individuals. This work reports a reproducible bioprocess, that shows the importance of controlling DO at physiological levels to increase HLC production, and the HLC capability to display PH1 disease features.
CITATION 2024 Oct 19;14(1):24599. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75582-z
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