Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part B (2025)

A popular in vitro model for liver research, the Huh7 cell line is derived from a human hepatocellular carcinoma and has characteristics similar to those of hepatocytes, such as the synthesis of albumin, metabolic activity and lipid processing. In virology and the development of antiviral drugs, Huh7 cellswhich were first created in 1982are particularly prized for their high permissiveness to hepatotropic viruses such as HCV and HBV. They also perform as reliable models for steatotic liver disease (MASLD) linked to metabolic dysfunction, reproducing steatosis by exposure to fatty acids and facilitating research on inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction. Huh7 cells have great transfection effectiveness, reproducible results and adaptability for long-term, high-throughput pharmacological screening, despite drawbacks such aberrant gene expression and fluctuating enzyme levels. Their contributions to the understanding of autophagy modulation, antioxidant treatments and drug-induced liver injury (DILI) pathways have been crucial. Additionally, the cell line is useful for pharmacogenomic and nutraceutical research, helping to identify molecular targets and assess phytochemicals such as resveratrol, curcumin and quercetin. Huh7 cells is a more affordable, scalable and genetically adjustable system than other cell lines (such as HepG2, CHO, HEK293, Caco-2 and PHH) for drug discovery, gene regulation research and precision medicine techniques in liver-specific pharmacology and toxicology.