Human galactosylated membrane bioreactor for the long-term maintenance of liver specific functions

In recent years the use of polymeric membranes
as substrate for cell culture is growing for
their characteristics of stability, biocompatibility
and selectivity [1,2]. The improvement of liver
cell-membrane interactions can be achieved by
surface modification with defined molecules that
can mimic the external cell environment. Membrane
surfaces functionalised through plasma
enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD)
and subsequent immobilisation of biomolecules
could elicit specific cellular responses in terms of
adhesion, growth and cellular functionalities [3].
Galactose-conjugated surfaces have been proposed
as alternatives for hepatocyte cultures due
to specific interactions between the galactose
moiety and the asyaloglycoprotein receptor
present on hepatocyte cytoplasmatic membrane.
In this paper we explored the ability of galactosylated
Polyethersulfon (PES) membrane
bioreactor to support the long-term maintenance
of liver specific functions of human hepatocytes.
The stability of the coating and the
effective immobilization of galactose on PES
membrane was investigated and characterised.
We also studied the effect of the interleukin 6
(IL-6), as mediator of inflammatory response,
on metabolism of the hepatocyte cultured in the
bioreactor, in order to investigate the production
of acute phase proteins, such as albumin, fetuin
and C reactive protein (CRP) as negative and
positive proteins of acute phase.