Artificial liver tissue capable of amplifying and exercising normal liver function

Release date: 2017-08-03

Many liver diseases, including cirrhosis and hepatitis, eventually lead to liver failure, when patients need liver transplants to save their lives. However, the number of livers currently suitable for transplantation is much smaller than the number of patients requiring liver transplantation.

To solve this problem, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Rockefeller University, and Boston University have developed an artificial liver tissue that can be transplanted into animals using tissue engineering. In a mouse liver injury model, the researchers found that artificial liver tissue transplanted into the peritoneal cavity of mice was able to amplify 50-fold and perform normal liver function.

In the study published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers embedded human hepatocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cell cords into a specific pattern. In the biodegradable hydrogel skeleton. When such artificially produced liver tissue is transplanted into the peritoneal cavity of a liver-impaired mouse, they are capable of generating blood vessels and integrating with the circulatory system of the mouse. At the same time, the artificial liver tissue can respond to signals secreted by the mouse to stimulate liver regeneration, leading to angiogenesis and promoting hepatocyte proliferation.

After 11 weeks of transplantation into mice, these artificial liver tissues not only expanded 50 times in volume, but analysis of tissue structure showed that the tissue structure characteristics of hyperplasia were very similar to those of normal liver tissues.

Further analysis of these tissue functions indicates that newly generated artificial liver tissue is capable of producing and secreting proteins secreted by normal liver tissues such as albumin, transferrin, and fibronectin. At the same time, artificial liver tissue expresses all genes involved in the metabolism of major liver drugs. This means that artificial liver tissue can mimic many of the functions of normal liver tissue.

This artificial liver tissue can not only help save the lives of patients with liver disease who need liver transplantation, but also help millions of patients with chronic liver disease who are not eligible for liver transplantation. “These patients have never been candidates for liver transplants, but they are also suffering from liver disease, and these patients will accompany them for the rest of their lives. For this patient group, it is foreseeable that transplanting a small artificial liver will help them strengthen the liver. Functionality. This is an idea that we are very interested in," said Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia, senior author of the study at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science in Massachusetts.

Reference material

[1]Engineered liver tissue expands after transplant

[2]In situ expansion of engineered human liver tissue in a mouse model of chronicliver disease

Source: Health New Vision (Micro Signal HealthHorizon)

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