Overview: hepatocytes and cryopreservation - a personal historical perspective

Hepatocytes represent an important tool for the investigation of species di fferences in drug metabolism and toxicity. Data obtained with hepatocytes f rom multiple animal species, including man, allow better prediction of the effects of xenobiotics in man. Cryopreservation of hepatocytes extends the use of this important experimental system by enhancing the convenience of i ts use. Also, it allows the researchers to perform experiments not plausibl e with freshly isolated hepatocytes, such as the direct comparison of xenob iotic toxicity and metabolism in hepatocytes from multiple human donors in a single experiment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights rese rved.