PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The Liver Cell Isolation Core, formerly the Human Cell Isolation Core, is the only COBRE funded facility in the U.S. dedicated to the isolation of liver cells from humans, mice and rats. The Liver Cell Isolation Core strives to meet the following goals. 1) To provide isolated hepatocytes and specific non-parenchymal liver cells from normal and diseased human and rodent livers for the support of scientific studies, grants and publications. 2) To become a more comprehensive core by a collaborative affiliation with the University of Kansas Liver Center. 3) To establish a core lab that can operate without COBRE grant support through generation of its own revenue and through other sources of institutional and/or NIH finding. The Core operates out of a state of the art lab located on the campus of the University of Kansas Medical Center. The Core provides expert advice regarding the isolation, culture and maintenance of hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells. The Core is under the direction of Dr. Hartmut Jaeschke and is staffed by a Core Technical Director, Mr. Kenneth Dorko, and a Core Technician, Ms. Huina Cai. For COBRE Phase III, the Liver Cell Isolation Core will expand the number of institutions from which it obtains liver specimens, increase the number of investigators that use its resources and gradually increase its service fees. These actions, coupled with additional institutional and future NIH support will allow the Core to become self-sustaining.