Researchers from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh have successfully repaired damaged liver in a mouse through transplanting stem cells.
The mouse was suffering from liver failure. Scientists observed that areas of the liver have been grown from these cells over several months, enhancing the structure and function of their livers.
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MRC science programmes director Dr Rob Buckle said: "This research has the potential to revolutionise patient care by finding ways of co-opting the body’s own resources to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissue.
"Work like this, building upon a precise understanding of the underlying human biology and supported by the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform, will give doctors powerful new tools to treat a range of diseases that have no cure, like liver failure, blindness, Parkinson’s disease and arthritis."
The liver holds capacity to repair itself, while it becomes damaged beyond repair in conditions such as cirrhosis and acute liver failure.
Hepatocytes are the essential cells in the liver that make multiple proteins and break down toxins, but these will not grow well under laboratory conditions.
The stem cells of liver overcome this problem, as they can be grown under laboratory conditions and are flexible to change into hepatocytes or other important types of liver cells.
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By GlobalDataFor the first time, researchers have demonstrated that liver stem cells can regrow the liver to such an extent. The research will now focus on demonstrating the same effect with human cells, which if successful will be useful to treat liver failure.
Medical Research Council, along with Wellcome Trust, has provided funding for the research.
Image: Transplanted hepatic progenitor cells can self-renew (yellow, left image) and differentiate into hepatocytes (green) to repair the damaged liver. Photo: courtesy of Dr Wei-Yu Lu.
