Hep G2

Hep G2 is an immortal cell line which was derived in 1975 from the liver tissue of a 15-year-old Caucasian male from Argentina with a well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma.

[citation needed] Hep G2 cells are a suitable in vitro model system for the study of polarized human hepatocytes.

Because of their high degree of morphological and functional differentiation in vitro, Hep G2 cells are a suitable model to study the intracellular trafficking and dynamics of bile canalicular, sinusoidal membrane proteins, and lipids in human hepatocytes in vitro.

[4] This can be important for the study of human liver diseases that are caused by an incorrect subcellular distribution of cell surface proteins, e.g., hepatocanalicular transport defects such as Dubin-Johnson Syndrome and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC), and familial hypercholesterolemia.

Hep G2 cells are also employed in trials with bio-artificial liver devices [citation needed].