ABSTRACT
While alternative methods for toxicity testing using re-constructed human skin and cornea have been written into guidelines and adopted by regulatory authorities, three-dimensional (3D) liver models are currently applied in the industrial settings for hepatotoxicity screening and prediction. These 3D liver models can recapitulate the architecture, functionality and toxicity response of the native liver, demonstrated by a set of related hallmarks. In this comprehensive review, non-scaffold and scaffold-based methods available for 3D liver model formation are introduced, with an emphasis on their advantages and drawbacks. We then focus on the characteristics of primary human hepatocytes, stem cell derived hepatocyte like cells, and immortalized hepatic cell lines as cell resources for model reconstruction. Primary hepatocytes are generally regarded to be superior to other cell types due to their comparable metabolic profiles to the native liver. Additionally, the application of 3D liver models (mostly liver spheroids) on the evaluation of drug induced liver injury and chronic liver diseases (steatosis, cirrhosis, cholestasis), as well as the potential of nanomaterials to introduce hepatotoxicity are summarized. Finally, the global 3D cell market from 3D liver model manufacturing to the contract service of in vitro hepatotoxicity testing using the models is extensively explored. However, 3D liver models face cultural and regulatory barriers in different countries, and therefore the business development of 3D liver models is not easy. Toxicologists, material scientists, engineers should work together to develop, validate and apply 3D liver models for hepatotoxicity testing under the support from industrial organizations and governmental agencies.
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Date of publication: 18 May 2020; Critical Reviews in Toxicology
Author information: Xihui Zhang (1), Tianyan Jiang (1), Danden Chen (1), Qi Wang (2), & Leshuai W. Zhang (1)
(1) State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-x), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiate Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China
(2) Institute for Control of Chinese Traditional Medicine and Ethnic Medicine, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC), China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), Beijing, P. R. China