Creation of robust in vitro models to study liver disease

We developed in vitro models to study liver disease, such as liver inflammation and fibrosis, as seen in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH); or hepatitis viral infection; or to enhance our ability to detect drugs that cause acute or repeat dose drug induced liver injury (DILI) assessment, and this in medium to high throughput format. The 2D and also 3D models consist of (i) longer-term stable functioning iPSC-derived hepatocytes that can be damaged by a compound /insult; iPSC-derived macrophages; endothelial cells and hepatic stellate cells that can respond to this damage. The cells also contain built-in stress reporter genes to allow high-content image-based definition of cell stress. Finally, the model can be down-scalable to 96 (or 384) well format allowing medium/high througput drug screening.