The effect of surface roughness of microporous membranes on the kinetics of oxygen consumption and ammonia elimination by adherent hepatocytes

In membrane hybrid liver support devices (HLDSs) using isolated hepatocytes where oxygen is transported only by diffusion to the cells, about 15-40% of the cell mass is likely to be in direct contact with the semipermeable membranes used as immunoselective barriers: quantitative effects of membrane surface properties on the kinetics of hepatocyte metabolic reactions may also affect HLSD performance. In this paper, we report our investigation of the effects of surface morphology of two microporous commercial membranes on the kinetics of oxygen consumption and ammonia elimination by primary hepatocytes in adhesion culture. Isolated rate hepatocytes were cultured on polypropylene microporous membranes with different surface roughness and pore size in a continuous-flow bioreactor whose fluid dynamics was optimized for the kinetic characterization of liver cell metabolic reactions. Collagen-coated membranes were used as the reference substratum. Hepatocyte adhesion was not significantly affected by membrane surface morphology. The rates of the investigated reactions increased with ammonia concentration according to saturation kinetics: the values of kinetic parameters V(max) and K(M) increased as cells were cultured on the membrane with the greatest membrane surface roughness and pore size. For the reaction of oxygen consumption, V(max) increased from 0.066 to 0.1 pmol h-1 per cell as surface roughness increased from 70 to 370 nm. For the kinetics of ammonia elimination, K(M) increased from 0.23 to 0.32 mM and V(max) increased from 1.49 to 1.79 pmol h-1 per cell with membrane surface roughness increased from 70 to 370 nm. Cells cultured on collagen-coated membranes consistently yielded the highest reaction rates. The V(max) values of 0.18 and 2.84 pmol h(-1) per cell for oxygen consumption and ammonia elimination, respectively, suggest that cell functions are also affected by the chemical nature of the substratum.