Formation of three-dimensional hepatic tissue by the bottom-up method using spheroids

• We fabricated functional 3D hepatic tissue by a bottom-up method using spheroids.
• A liver tissue with endothelial cells was formed inside hollow fiber.
• Endothelial cells were distributed regularly at every 100 μm within the tissue.
• The liver tissue maintained cell viability and specific functions at high level.
• This method is an effective tool for construction of functional liver tissue.

Liver regenerative medicine has attracted attention as a possible alternative to organ transplantation. To address the challenge of liver regenerative medicine, the development of a construction method has been proposed for liver tissue in vitro with a high cell density and high functionality for transplantation into patients with severe liver failure. In this study, we fabricated highly functional three-dimensional hepatic tissue by a bottom-up method using spheroids. The hepatic tissue was formed by stacking hepatocyte spheroids covered with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Hepatic tissue constructs were evaluated for cell survival, liver-specific functions, and histologically. As a result, we identified improvements in liver-specific functions (ammonia removal and albumin secretion) and cell survival. In addition, HUVECs were regularly distributed at every 100 μm within the tissue, and live cells were present within the whole tissue construct throughout the culture period. In summary, we successfully fabricated highly functional hepatic tissue by the bottom-up method using HUVEC-covered hepatocyte spheroids.