Peptide-based scaffolds for the culture and maintenance of primary human hepatocytes

We report here the use of a nanofibrous hydrogel as a 3D scaffold for the culture and maintenance of functional primary human hepatocytes. The system is based on the cooperative assembly of a fiber-forming peptide component, fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl-diphenylalanine (Fmoc-FF), and the integrin-binding functional peptide ligand, Fmoc-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (Fmoc-RGD) into a nanofibrous gel at physiological pH. This Fmoc-FF/RGD hydrogel was formulated to provide a biomimetic microenvironment with some critical features such as mechanical properties and nanofiber morphology, which were optimized to support hepatocyte culture. The material was shown to support maintenance and function of encapsulated primary human hepatocytes as indicated by actin staining, qRT-PCR, and functional cytochrome P450 assays. The designed gel was shown to outperform Matrigel in cytochrome P450 functional assays. The hydrogel may prove useful for liver development and disease models, as well as providing insights into the design of future implantable scaffolds for the regeneration of liver tissue in patients with liver disease.