Effects of supplementation with insulin and dexamethasone on morphologies and maintenance of rat repatocytes onto lactose-silk fibroin conjugates during primary culture

We investigated the effects of supplementation of the culture medium with insulin plus dexamethasone on rat primary hepatocytes cultured onto dishes coated with lactose-silk fibroin conjugates (Lac-CY-SF). Hepatocytes on the Lac-CY-SF conjugate-coated dishes showed no morphological differences between when they were cultured in the medium containing 1 nM insulin and 1 nM dexamethasone and when they were cultured in the medium containing 100 nM insulin and 100 nM dexamethasone. However, cell detachment from the conjugate-coated dishes was observed at 3 days of culture with 1 nM insulin and 1 nM dexamethasone, whereas cells were maintained on the conjugated-coated dishes through the 3 days cultivation with 100 nM insulin and 100 nM dexamethasone. Therefore, our results suggested that the supplementation with 100 nM insulin and 100 nM dexamethasone was more effective for the maintenance of hepatocytes on the Lac-CY-SF conjugates-coated dishes, but did not affect the morphologies of the hepatocytes compared to the supplementation with 1 nM insulin and 1 nM dexamethasone.