Hepatocytes Derived from Stem Cells Aid Drug Discovery

Scientists have discovered methods to produce uniform populations of a number of important cell types from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), including hepatocytes. Since these are responsible for the metabolism of most drugs, they are useful in drug development for detecting toxicity and metabolic effects on the liver.

The discovery of methods to produce different cells types from hESCs was the work of scientists at Geron Corp. (Menlo Park, CA, USA). Using these methods, they have been able to produce neural cells for Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury, cardiomyocytes for heart disease, and islet cells for diabetes. Now, the company is utilizing this technology to produce hESCs as research tools for drug discovery. The company has been issued two US patents, one covering the production of hepatocytes from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and one covering their implementation by end users in drug testing.

New drugs are screened early for toxicity and metabolic effects on the liver. Drug companies use rodent cells or human liver tissue for testing because primary hepatocytes are very limited. Geron says it can generate a limitless supply of human hepatocytes that have standardized characteristics.

"hESC-derived cells having characteristic features of hepatocytes are combined with the test compound, and then the user detects any effect the compound has on the cells as well as the specific metabolites of the compound generated by the cells,” said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., vice president, intellectual property, at Geron. " The patent explicitly covers toxicity screening, effects on cell growth and metabolism, and effects on various components of the cytochrome p450 system, which is used by the liver to metabolize drugs.”




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