A cost-effective and simple culture method for primary hepatocytes

Hepatocytes, the major epithelial cells of the liver, maintain their morphology in culture dishes coated with extracellular matrix (ECM) components such as collagen and fibronectin or biodegradable polymers (e.g. chitosan, gelatin). In these coated dishes, survival of cells and maintaining of liver-specific functions may increase. The aim of this study was to determine a suitable, cost-effective and simple system for hepatocyte isolation and culture which may be useful for various applications such as in vitro toxicology studies, hepatocyte transplantation and bioartificial liver (BAL) systems. In order to obtain primary cultures, hepatocytes were isolated from liver by an enzymatic method and cultured on plates coated with collagen, chitosan or gelatin. Collagen, gelatin-sandwich and gelatin-cell mixture methods were also evaluated. Morphology and attachment of the cells were observed by inverted microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). An MTT assay was used to determine cell viability and mitochondrial activity