Primary hepatocytes as liver stem cells can proliferate under liver
injury. Hepatocytes are the major parenchymal cells (PC) in the liver
and play an important role in liver metabolism. Hepatocytes are
considered as a gold standard tool for drug toxicity/screening or liver
disease modeling. Though the maturation and functions of hepatocytes are
lost under routine 2-dimensional (2D) culture conditions. Recent studies
revealed that interactions of hepatocytes with non-parenchyma cells
(NPC) under 3D culture conditions can be an alternative option to
overcome these problems. Co-culture of hepatocytes with NPC facilitated
in-vitro liver disease models such as fibrosis, steatosis and
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cholestasis, and viral
hepatitis. This review described the co-culture of liver PC with NPC
under 2D and 3D culture systems.