Derivation and applications of human hepatocyte-like cells

Figure 1 Derivation and applications of human hepatocyte-like cells. A: Directed differentiation process of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs)-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) in vitro includes endoderm development, endoderm hepatic specification, and hepatic maturation stages; B: Applications of human HLCs. HPSC-derived HLCs can be used to generate disease models to study rare or common genetic variants. These cellular models can be applied in pathophysiological research, drug screening, and toxicity testing. Cohorts of HLCs provide in vitro cell models for genome-wide association studies and potentially pharmacogenomics in dishes. HLCs also offer a potential cell source for bioartificial livers or liver transplantation. HLCs: Hepatocyte-like cells; hPSCs: Human pluripotent stem cells.