Potential for Isolation of Immortalized Hepatocyte Cell Lines by Liver-DirectedIn VivoGene Delivery of Transposons in Mice

Abstract

Isolation of hepatocytes and their culturein vitrorepresent important avenues to explore the function of such cells. However, these studies are often difficult to perform because of the inability of hepatocytes to proliferatein vitro. Immortalization of isolated hepatocytes is thus an important step toward continuousin vitroculture. For cellular immortalization, integration of relevant genes into the host chromosomes is a prerequisite. Transposons, which are mobile genetic elements, are known to facilitate integration of genes of interest (GOI) into chromosomesin vitroandin vivo. Here, we proposed that a combination of transposon- and liver-directed introduction of nucleic acids may confer acquisition of unlimited cellular proliferative potential on hepatocytes, enabling the possible isolation of immortalized hepatocyte cell lines, which has often failed using more traditional immortalization methods.