Human liver from stem cells
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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In Japan, a functioning human liver from stem cells has been created, which can not but inspire the hope of achieving the idea of artificially grown organs. Researchers transplanted induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSC) into the mouse's body, where they could grow into a small but workable human liver.
Unlike embryonic stem cells, the use of which is "associated with moral and ethical problems", induced pluripotent stem cells are obtained from the most ordinary cells of an adult by reprogramming with loss of differentiation, which automatically removes all "ethical problems", adding in addition even more technical ones.
Scientists under the guidance of Professor Rideka Taniguchi from the University of Yokohama reprogrammed human IPSKs into "precursor cells," which were then transplanted into the mouse's head to ensure that the growing organ did not lack a blood flow.
For reference. Previously, it was shown that IPSC can be differentiated into hepatocytes by transferring four reprogramming transcription factors - Oct-4, Sox2, Klf-4 and c-Myc. Such cells have already been used to repair damaged liver tissue (a report on this was published in the journal Biomaterials in 2011). However, never before has anyone claimed the cultivation of an entire functioning organ.
Under these conditions, the cells grew into a real human liver about 5 mm in size, capable of generating human proteins and destroying chemicals.
Breakthrough opens the way to the creation of artificial human organs, the need for which every year only increases. But let's not forget about the most significant technical problems associated with the use of IPSC and, potentially, the organs grown from them, which have already been reported.
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