Liver: regeneration instead of transplantation?
Discovery of new hepatocyte progenitor cells
promises progress in liver cell therapy
LifeSciencesToday based on the materials of The Mount Sinai Hospital:
Researchers Discover A New Liver Cell that Shows Promise for Cellular Therapy for Liver RegenerationLiver transplantation is the main method of treating patients with end–stage diseases of this organ - the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, but a new study by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine
The Mount Sinai Medical Center suggests the possibility of liver regeneration using cell therapy. Researchers have found that human embryonic stem cells can be differentiated into previously unknown liver progenitor cells, which are early descendants of stem cells, and mature functional hepatocytes can be obtained.
"The discovery of new progenitor cells represents a fundamental breakthrough in this field and, possibly, in the field of liver regeneration using cell therapy," says Valerie Gouon-Evans, head of the work, PharmD, PhD. "Until now, liver transplantation has been the most successful method of treating patients with liver failure, but we are experiencing an acute shortage of organs. This discovery may help solve this problem."
In collaboration with the laboratory of Matthew J. Matthew J. Evans, PhD, scientists have proven the functionality of liver cells derived from newly discovered precursors: they can be infected with the hepatitis C virus, which is an exceptional property of hepatocytes.
The most important achievement of American scientists was the discovery on the surface of a new progenitor of the receptor protein KDR, or vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, the presence of which, until now, was thought to be limited to vascular-forming endothelial cells, precursors of endothelial cells and precursors of blood cells. Researchers have shown that activation of KDR on newly discovered progenitors differentiates them into mature hepatocytes. In addition, work on one of the mouse models also revealed similar cells, indicating that these progenitors are evolutionarily preserved from mouse to human, and therefore should be, according to Dr. Guon-Evans, "important cells with promising potential for cell therapy of liver diseases."
Whether hepatocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells can help in liver repair, scientists plan to find out in preclinical trials on animal models of diseases of this organ.
The therapeutic use of stem cells is a promising area of medicine, and researchers are studying why stem cells function in certain types of niches and microenvironments. They are trying to crack the communication code of stem cells by determining how they transmit signals to each other and other cells. The new knowledge gained in this study promises a breakthrough in both diagnosis and therapy.
Studies show that it is possible to reprogram adult skin cells – fibroblasts – into cells very similar to embryonic stem cells. As soon as scientists learn how to cultivate and differentiate stem cells in a controlled manner to replace dead and repair tissues, medicine will be able to diagnose and treat many intractable diseases at the earliest stages, such as type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, various cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and cancer.
Article by Goldman et al. KDR Identifies a Conserved Human and Murine Hepatic Progenitor and Instructs Early Liver Development published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
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