Immunoregulative properties of human fetal hepatic stem cells

Abstract

Human fetal liver is unique as it contains stem hematopoietic cells and their committed derivatives of different maturation. The present study was aimed to assess the amount of immunocompetent human fetal hepatic cells of 9-10 week gestation by phenotypic properties and their reaction to mitogens as well as to evaluate influence of human fetal hepatic cells to proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes of adult donors in a mixed culture.

The suspension of human fetal hepatic cells was obtained by a mechanical method using vibration. Cells were cryoconserved under the protection of 5% DMSO at the speed of 1 °С per min. Fluorescent microscopy was used for immune marker analysis. The proliferation activity of fetal hepatic cells and adult peripheral blood lymphocytes was assessed according to ³H-thymidine inclusion. In the mixed culture human fetal hepatic cells were co-cultured with peripheral blood lymphocytes in the presence or absence of mitogens.

Immune marker analysis of the fetal hepatic cells suspension did not reveal the statistically relevant number of matured B- and T- lymphocytes. Unlike adult peripheral blood lymphocytes human hepatic cells demonstrated high levels of spontaneous proliferation when cultured in vitro. Mitogens, phytohemagglutinine (PHA) or concanavalin А (Con-А) suppressed the proliferation of human fetal hepatic cells. In the mixed culture the fetal hepatic cells suppressed both spontaneous and mitogen-stimulated proliferation of adult peripheral blood lymphocytes as well as peripheral lymphocyte proliferation in a twoforked mixed culture. Possible mechanisms of fetal hepatic cells activity have been discussed in the article.

Keywords

fetal liver / immunology / response of mixed lymphocyte culture

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