Viral hepatitis: New strategy by which HCV evades host immune defences

摘要

A functional human liver can be generated by transplanting small liver buds constructed from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into mice, new research shows. The findings are a tentative step forward in the bid to produce laboratory-grown organs to address the critical shortage of donor organs available as treatment for end-stage organ failure. Takanori Takebe and colleagues created in vitro liver buds (an early stage in liver organogenesis) by first differentiating human iPSCs into hepatic endoderm cells and then incubating these cells with a mixture of human endothelial and mesenchymal stem cells to recapitulate what naturally occurs during early organ development. The hepatic cells self-organized into a 3D liver bud that resembled those generated in vivo. "Our approach reconstitutes the cellular interactions that are important for natural liver progression, enabling the stem cells to efficiently differentiate into hepatocytes," explains Takebe.