Modeling human hepatic steatosis in pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocytes

This protocol describes the production of hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) from human pluripotent stem cells and how to induce hepatic steatosis, a condition characterized by intracellular lipid accumulation. Following differentiation to an HLC phenotype, intracellular lipid accumulation is induced with a steatosis induction cocktail, allowing the user to examine the cellular processes that underpin hepatic steatosis. Furthermore, the renewable nature of our system, on a defined genetic background, permits in-depth mechanistic analysis, which may facilitate therapeutic target identification in the future. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Sinton et al. (2021).