Isolation and long-term culture of human hepatocytes

Pressure-controlled perfusion of specimens of surgical hepatic resection produced improved yields of human hepatocytes for studies of long-term cultures. The effect of an extracellular matrix configuration on albumin secretion was evaluated by culture on a single layer of collagen or between double layers of collagen gel with Dulbecco's modified Eagle and Williams E media. Hepatocytes from 12 patients were maintained for more than 30 days, and in flue of 12 experiments cells were cultured beyond 2 months