Monolayer culture of primary rat hepatocytes on an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-immobilized polystyrene dish express liver-specific functions of albumin production and p-acetamidophenol metabolism the same as for spheroid culture

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of albumin production and drug metabolism activities of primary rat hepatocytes under a two-dimensional monolayer culture condition formed on a RGD-immobilized culture dish. Albumin production activity on the RGD-immobilized dish (2500 ng cm−2 Pronectin F-coated dish) was 1.6 (p < 0.05) and 1.2 (p < 0.05) times higher than that on the collagen-coated dish and that of the spheroid culture, respectively. p-Acetamidophenol (APAP) metabolism rate of the collagen-monolayer at 5 days of culture was decreased to 16% of the activity at 1 day of culture. On the other hand, APAP metabolism activities of the RGD-monolayer and spheroid cultures were well maintained during 7 days of culture. However, we could not detect the effectiveness of the RGD-monolayer on lidocaine metabolism of hepatocytes. This is the first report suggesting that a hepatocyte monolayer on a RGD-immobilized culture substratum expresses albumin production and APAP metabolism activities equal to those of a hepatocyte spheroid culture.