6.1.3. Primary Hepatocyte Cultures

When cultured in the appropriate medium, hepatocytes form tight junctions to generate sealed tube-like structures, which resemble bile canaliculi [80,81]. Therefore, this system provides the possibility of assessing the excretion of drugs and bile components into bile canaliculi [82–84]. Hepatocytes in suspension also provide a suitable option for studying drug metabolism and drug transport [85,86]. One major advantage of hepatocyte suspension cultures is their easy, quick and high-yield preparation. Furthermore, this assay does not require radiolabeled substrates [87]. Therefore, this system is often used for large-scale screening of drugs for assessment of drug-induced liver injury (DILI). It has to be kept in mind, however, that the presence of multiple transporters in primary hepatocytes limits their use for assessing BSEP-specific substrates [88].
