Generation of Multicellular 3D Liver Organoids From Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells as a Tool for Modelling Liver Diseases.

The liver is an essential organ that is involved in the metabolism, synthesis, and secretion of serum proteins and detoxification of xenobiotic compounds and alcohol. Studies on liver diseases have largely relied on cancer-derived cell lines that have proven to be inferior due to the lack of drug-metabolising enzymes. Primary human hepatocytes are considered the gold-standard for evaluating drug metabolism. However, several factors such as lack of donors, high cost of cells, and loss of polarity of the cells have limited their widescale adoption and utility. Stem cells have emerged as an alternative source for liver cells that could be utilised for studying liver diseases, developmental biology, toxicology testing, and regenerative medicine. In this article, we describe in detail an optimised protocol for the generation of multicellular 3D liver organoids composed of hepatocytes, stellate cells, and Kupffer cells as a tractable robust model of the liver. Key features • Optimising a protocol for generating multicellular 3D liver organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells. Graphical overview.