A bioartificial liver device based on three-dimensional culture of genetically engineered hepatoma cells using hollow fibers.

The bioartificial liver (BAL) device is an extracorporeal liver support system incorporating living hepatocytes. A major problem in BAL device development is to obtain a high number of functional cells. In this study, we focused on a genetically engineered mouse hepatoma cell line, Hepa/8F5, in which elevated liver functions are induced via overexpression of liver-enriched transcription factors activated by doxycycline (Dox) addition.