BPB Reports

Paper Details

BPB Reports
Vol. 9 No. 2 p.52-56 2026
Report
An in Vitro System for Screening Insulin-Sensitizing Agents: Leveraging Human Hepatocyte Models of MASLD and FGF21 Response
  • Masakazu Kakuni (Department of Business Development, PhoenixBio Co., Ltd. / masakazu.kakuni@phoenixbio.co.jp)
Masaki Takahashi 1) , Sayaka Tomatsu 2) , Mutsumi Inamatsu 1) , Nami Yoshikawa 3) , Chise Tateno 1) 4) 5) , Keishi Hata 2) , Masakazu Kakuni 6)
1) Department of PXB-mouse Production, PhoenixBio Co., Ltd. , 2) Brewing Research Station, Akita Research Institute of Food and Brewing , 3) Department of Study Service, PhoenixBio Co., Ltd. , 4) Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University , 5) Wakayama Medical University , 6) Department of Business Development, PhoenixBio Co., Ltd.
Received: February 06, 2026;   Accepted: April 15, 2026;   Released: April 28, 2026
Keywords: PXB-cells LA, human primary hepatocyte, insulin resistance, hepatokine, fibroblast growth factor 21
Abstracts

Progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease leads to insulin resistance, a condition driven by the induction of specific hepatokines. We previously developed an in vitro steatotic liver model, PXB-cells LA (Lipid Analysis), derived from fresh human hepatocytes (PXB-cells®) isolated from humanized mouse livers. In the present study, we investigated its utility as a screening system for insulin-sensitizing agents. Our results demonstrated that metformin and rosiglitazone, well-known treatments for type 2 diabetes, reduced the expression of the prodiabetic hepatokines leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 and fetuin-A in PXB-cells LA. Furthermore, while fibroblast growth factor 21 enhances systemic insulin sensitivity, both agents upregulated fibroblast growth factor 21 production at both the mRNA and protein levels in this model.