Growing and expanding primary, differentiated adult cells in culture is difficult and laborious because many differentiated cells can only be maintained in vitro for a limited period of time. However, for controlled experiments, it may be necessary to maintain a consistent population of cells.Maintaining a population of adult stem cells （ASCs）, allows one to exponentially propagate a population of cells in vitro, and induce differentiation when desired. This is possible with SACK cell strains and specified cell culture conditions.SACK ASC cell properties – Long-term propagation in xanthosine （Xs）-supplemented mediumSuppressed asymmetric cell kineticsDifferentiated progeny cell properties – Xs-free medium, confluent monolayer, serum reductionHepatocyte PropertiesAlbumin secretionAlpha-fetoprotein secretion （indicates presence of hepatoblasts）Alpha 1-antitrypsin expressionH4 hepatocyte antigen expressionInducible cytochrome P450 activity （CYP1A1, CYP1A2） Constitutive cytochrome P450 metabolism （CYP2E1）Spheroid formationBinucleationBiliary PropertiesCK7 expression （biliary epithelial cell marker）
