1. Members

Project leader	Hiroyuki Mizuguchi
Technical assistants	Natsumi Mimura
Collaborating researchers	Kazuo Takayama, Yasuko Hagihara, Ayaka Sakamoto, and 7
Research trainee	10 people

2. Background and Objectives

Embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells show the characteristics of self-renewal and pluripotency. In our Lab, functional cells, such as hematopoietic cells, immune cells, hepatic cells, and renal cells, are efficiently differentiated from the stem cells. Our objectives are to establish the novel system of drug screening by using the differentiated cells.

3. Overview of our research

I. Differentiation and maturation of hepatocytes derived from human iPS cells

Hepatocytes are the most important cells for the drug screening and development. Hepatoma cell lines are often used for this purpose; however, these cells contain low levels of drug metabolizing enzymes and poorly reflect the human hepatocytes in vivo. We are developing a novel protocol for efficient differentiation of human iPS cells into the hepatocytes. Our protocol includes the improvement of culture medium, gene transfer, and 3D cell culture system.