Applications of human induced pluripotent stem cell derived hepatocytes

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are potential sources of hepatocytes for drug development and cell therapy. In vitro differentiation of iPSCs into hepatic cells has been achieved and improved during the last several years. More recently the in vivo functionality of human iPSC-derived hepatic cells at various differentiation stages has also been demonstrated. In this chapter, we describe the recent advance in human iPSC generation and hepatic differentiation technologies, the in vitro and in vivo activities of human iPSC derived hepatocytes, and discuss both basic and clinical applications of these cells including disease modeling, drug toxicity screening, drug discovery, gene therapy and cell replacement therapy.