Enhanced hepatic differentiation of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in spheroidal aggregate culture on a decellularized liver scaffold

In the present study, we aimed to determine whether the combination of aggregate culture and decellularized liver scaffolds (DLSs) promoted the hepatic differentiation of murine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) into high yields of mature hepatocytes in vitro. Four culturing methods for differentiation [single cell (2D), spheroids (3D), 2D + DLS and 3D + DLS] were studied. To determine the differentiation stages of the MSCs, RT-qPCR of the hepatocyte genes, immunostaining of hepatocyte markers, and functional analyses were all performed. Compared with the other groups, hepatocyte-like cells which differentiated from BM-MSC spheroids on extracellular matrix (ECM) exhibited more intensive staining of stored glycogen, an elevated level of urea biosynthesis and albumin secretion as well as the higher expression of hepatocyte-specific genes. Our results indicated that DLSs combined with spheroidal aggregate culture may be used as an effective method to facilitate the hepatic maturation of BM-MSCs and may have future applications in stem cell-based liver regenerative medicine.