Hypoxia in tumors is closely associated with tumor aggressiveness and resistance to radio- and chemotherapeutic treatment. Therefore, reliable markers for hypoxia represent both valuable diagnostic markers and potential targets for investigation.
Hepatocytes are commonly used in drug discovery and preclinical drug development to perform experiments requiring intact cellular systems. Intact hepatocytes contain the major hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes required to study the four categories of xenobiotic biotransformation: Hydrolysis, Reduction, Oxidation and Conjugation. Because of these enzymes, hepatocytes provide a viable and cost-effective alternative to in vivo compound testings.