Mitsui Chemicals, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Nagoya City University, and Kanazawa University, has developed a groundbreaking device that allows hepatocytes cultured in vitro to continuously excrete bile just as they do in the human body. 

 

The innovation leverages Mitsui Chemicals’ oxygen-permeable InnoCell cell culture plate to efficiently collect bile while reducing stress on liver cells, offering unprecedented accuracy in evaluating bile components.

 

This breakthrough promises to revolutionize drug discovery and liver research. It could dramatically improve hepatotoxicity assessments, predict drug interactions more accurately, and shed light on liver disease mechanisms linked to bile excretion.

 

“The liver is an important organ responsible for drug metabolism and excretion of toxic substances, and one of its main functions is the production and excretion of bile,” the company said. 

 

Traditional systems have struggled to replicate the continuous bile flow seen in living organisms. Structural limitations, including cellular stress and bile retention in bile canaliculi, have long hindered long-term studies of biliary metabolism.

 

Mitsui Chemicals’ new device overcomes these challenges with a microchannel structure that allows hepatocytes to excrete bile naturally. Bile collection efficiency soared to 13.7 times that of conventional devices, while minimizing the burden on cells. The system also maintains a stable environment for extended periods, enabling precise monitoring of time-dependent changes in bile metabolism.

 

Key to this success is the InnoCell plate, which delivers several advantages: Sufficient oxygen supply to hepatocytes: InnoCell plates provide oxygen from the bottom, helping cells behave more like natural hepatocytes; Enhanced bile canaliculi formation: Stable oxygen levels support the continuous excretion of bile.

 

Maximized device performance: “Without InnoCell, the performance of the biliary excretion device could not be fully realized,” the research team said.

 

Toshihiko Omote, CTO and Managing Executive Officer at Mitsui Chemicals, commented: “It is a great honor to have InnoCell contribute to the realization of the world's first continuous bile excretion model. Maintaining hepatocyte polarity in a hyperoxic environment is an area where our company's unique technology can be most utilized, and I hope this achievement will lead to dramatic progress in drug discovery and liver disease research.”