USE OF LAMININ FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF HOLOPHYDRANATE CELLS TOWARDS HEPATOCYTE CELL LINEARITY

Abstract

The invention relates to the use of a laminin (LN) matrix for hepatic differentiation. The invention also relates to a method for inducing hepatic differentiation comprising the steps of: (i) providing a population of human totipotent cells, (ii) culturing the population on a laminin-coated support in an endoderm stimulation medium to produce a population of human DE cells, (iii) culturing said population of human DE cells on a laminin-coated support in a hepatic stimulation medium to produce a population of human hepatoblast-like cells, and (iv) optionally culturing said population of human hepatoblast-like cells on a laminin-coated support in a hepatic maturation medium to produce a population of human hepatocyte-like cells.The invention further relates to a population of human hepatoblast-type cells or human embryonic hepatocyte-type cells obtained by the method of the invention. The invention further relates to a population of human hepatoblast-type cells expressing HNF4 α and expressing substantially AFP for use in a method of treating the human body.