Resumen: Direct reprogramming represents an easy technique to generate induced hepatocytes (iHeps) from somatic cells. However, current protocols are accompanied by several drawbacks as iHeps are heterogenous and lack fully mature phenotypes of primary hepatocytes. Here, we established a polycistronic expression system to induce the direct reprogramming of mouse embryonic fibroblasts towards hepatocytes. The resulting iHeps are homogenous and display key properties of primary hepatocytes, such as expression of hepatocyte markers, albumin secretion, and presence of liver transaminases. iHeps also possess the capacity to repopulate decellularized liver tissue and exhibit enhanced hepatic maturation. As such, we present a novel strategy to generate homogenous and functional iHeps for applications in tissue engineering and cell therapy. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.1002/bit.26784 Año: 2018 Publicado en: BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING 115, 11 (2018), 2807 - 2816 ISSN: 0006-3592 Factor impacto JCR: 4.26 (2018) Categ. JCR: BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY rank: 30 / 162 = 0.185 (2018) - Q1 - T1 Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.309 - Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (Q1) - Biotechnology (Q1) - Bioengineering (Q1)