Urine cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells as potential therapeutic cell transplants for different liver diseases

Hepatocytes derived from human somatic cells would be useful in regenerative medicine, drug development and cell-based disease models. Several types of somatic cells have been reprogrammed to induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) and then differentiated to hepatocyte-like cells (iHeps). However, the method for generating such cells from renal epithelial cells shed in human urine has not been described systematically. Thus, we tested whether these urine cell-derived iPS cells will show the ability to differentiate into iHeps and may have the potential to engraft in mouse liver. 250 – 500 ml of fresh human urine was c…