TY - JOUR T1 - An Improved Encapsulation Method for Cryopreserving Hepatocytes for Functional Transplantation Using a Thermo-reversible Gelation Polymer JF - In Vivo JO - In Vivo SP - 2309 LP - 2316 DO - 10.21873/invivo.12043 VL - 34 IS - 5 AU - KOSUKE YAMADA AU - TAKESHI AOKI AU - YUTA ENAMI AU - YOSHIHIKO TASHIRO AU - ZIN ZEHAOU AU - TOMOTAKE KOIZUMI AU - TOMOKAZU KUSANO AU - KAZUHIRO MATSUDA AU - YUSUKE WADA AU - HIDEKI SHIBATA AU - KODAI TOMIOKA AU - KRIS SIRIRATSIVAWONG AU - ROBERT M. HOFFMAN AU - MASAHIKO MURAKAMI Y1 - 2020/09/01 UR - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/34/5/2309.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: Thermo-reversible gelation polymer (TGP) can be converted into a gel state upon warming and liquid upon cooling. The present study aimed to demonstrate a new method for cryopreservation and encapsulation of rat hepatocytes using a TGP and their successful transplantation. Materials and Methods: The isolated rat hepatocytes were microencapsulated using TGP, and stored in liquid nitrogen. After cryopreservation, hepatocytes were cultured. Moreover, hepatocytes were transplanted into the spleen without a TGP capsule. Results: The viability of hepatocytes that were cryopreserved in TGP was 71.2±2.3%. The hepatocytes demonstrated adequate survival, maintained their hepatic function in culture, and expressed albumin after transplantation to the rat spleen. Conclusion: We demonstrated a cryopreservation method of rat hepatocyte encapsulation using a TGP gel in the hydrogel state which subsequently allowed successful transplantation of unencapsulated hepatocytes in a sol state TGP gel at low temperature. ER -