Morten Seirup

Research Description

The liver is the primary filter for drugs, environmental toxins and chemicals and as such protects the body against harmful chemical exposures. This work will aid the differentiation, maturation and culture of hepatocytes in vitro. It will improve both the quality and quantity of hepatocytes for use in in-vitro toxicological screening of drugs and other compounds. Using Single Cell sequencing and WaveCrest, an algorithm that can minimize the Euclidian distance between the transcriptomes of the cells, we aim to spatially recreate the periportal to perivenous axis of the hepatocytes allowing us to understand region differences within the liver. Many toxins (such as acetaminophen) have a zone specific toxicity profile. By being blind to the zonation of hepatocytes on culture we could mischaracterize toxic compounds due to the fact that the sensitive population of cells might not be present in the culture.