Generation of a bile salt export pump deficiency model using patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells

Bile salt export pump (BSEP) plays an important role in hepatic secretion of bile acids and its deficiency results in severe cholestasis and liver failure. Mutation of the ABCB11 gene encoding BSEP induces BSEP deficiency and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 2 (PFIC2). Because liver transplantation remains standard treatment for PFIC2, the development of a novel therapeutic option is desired. However, a well reproducible model, which is essential for the new drug development for PFIC2, has not been established. Therefore, we attempted to establish a PFIC2 model by using iPSC technology. Human iPSCs were generated from patients with BSEP-deficiency (BD-iPSC), and were differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs). In the BD-iPSC derived HLCs (BD-HLCs), BSEP was not expressed on the cell surface and the biliary excretion capacity was significantly impaired. We also identified a novel mutation in the 5′-untranslated region of the ABCB11 gene that led to aberrant RNA splicing in BD-HLCs. Furthermore, to evaluate the drug efficacy, BD-HLCs were treated with 4-phenylbutyrate (4PBA). The membrane BSEP expression level and the biliary excretion capacity in BD-HLCs were rescued by 4PBA treatment. In summary, we succeeded in establishing a PFIC2 model, which may be useful for its pathophysiological analysis and drug development.