Adult hepatocytes direct liver organogenesis through non-parenchymal cell recruitment in the kidney

Microscale tissue engineering of liver lobule models: advancements and applications

The liver, as the body's primary organ for maintaining internal balance, is composed of numerous hexagonal liver lobules, each sharing a uniform architectural framework. These liver lobules serve as the basic structural and functional units of the liver, comprised of central veins, hepatic plates, hepatic sinusoids, and minute bile ducts. Meanwhile, within liver lobules, distinct regions of hepatocytes carry out diverse functions. The in vitro construction of liver lobule models, faithfully replicating their structure and function, holds paramount significance for research in liver development and diseases. Presently, two primary technologies for constructing liver lobule models dominate the field: 3D bioprinting and microfluidic techniques. 3D bioprinting enables precise deposition of cells and biomaterials, while microfluidics facilitates targeted transport of cells or other culture materials to specified locations, effectively managing culture media input and output through micro-pump control, enabling dynamic simulations of liver lobules. In this comprehensive review, we provide an overview of the biomaterials, cells, and manufacturing methods employed by recent researchers in constructing liver lobule models. Our aim is to explore strategies and technologies that closely emulate the authentic structure and function of liver lobules, offering invaluable insights for research into liver diseases, drug screening, drug toxicity assessment, and cell replacement therapy.

Reprogramming the spleen into a functioning 'liver' in vivo

OBJECTIVE

Liver regeneration remains one of the biggest clinical challenges. Here, we aim to transform the spleen into a liver-like organ via directly reprogramming the splenic fibroblasts into hepatocytes in vivo.

DESIGN

In the mouse spleen, the number of fibroblasts was through silica particles (SiO₂) stimulation, the expanded fibroblasts were converted to hepatocytes (iHeps) by lentiviral transfection of three key transcriptional factors (Foxa3, Gata4 and Hnf1a), and the iHeps were further expanded with tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and lentivirus-mediated expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).

RESULTS

SiO₂ stimulation tripled the number of activated fibroblasts. Foxa3, Gata4 and Hnf1a converted SiO₂-remodelled spleen fibroblasts into 2×10⁶ functional iHeps in one spleen. TNF-α protein and lentivirus-mediated expression of EGF and HGF further enabled the total hepatocytes to expand to 8×10⁶ per spleen. iHeps possessed hepatic functions-such as glycogen storage, lipid accumulation and drug metabolism-and performed fundamental liver functions to improve the survival rate of mice with 90% hepatectomy.

CONCLUSION

Direct conversion of the spleen into a liver-like organ, without cell or tissue transplantation, establishes fundamental hepatic functions in mice, suggesting its potential value for the treatment of end-stage liver diseases.

[A review on cell-based models of human liver disease in vitro]

Unhealthy diet, habits and drug abuse cause a variety of liver diseases, including steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, which seriously affect human health. The fabrication of highly simulated cell models in vitro is important in the treatment of liver diseases and drug development. This article summarized the common strategies for the construction of liver pathology models in vitro. It introduced four typical cell models in vitro related to liver disease and provided a reference for the study of liver disease models.

The complement system in liver diseases: Evidence-based approach and therapeutic options

Complement is usually seen to largely originate from the liver to accomplish its tasks systemically - its return to the production site has long been underestimated. Recent progress in genomics, therapeutic effects on complement, standardised possibilities in medical laboratory tests and involvement of complosome brings the complement system with its three major functions of opsonization, cytolysis and phagocytosis back to liver biology and pathology. The LOINC™ system features 20 entries for the C3 component of complement to anticipate the application of artificial intelligence data banks algorythms of which are fed with patient-specific data connected to standard lab assays for liver function. These advancements now lead to increased vigilance by clinicians. This reassessment article will further elucidate the distribution of synthesis sites to the three germ layer-derived cell systems and the role complement now known to play in embryogenesis, senescence, allotransplantation and autoimmune disease. This establishes the liver as part of the gastro-intestinal system in connection with nosological entities never thought of, such as the microbiota-liver-brain axis. In neurological disease etiology infectious and autoimmune hepatitis play an important role in the context of causative viz reactive complement activation. The mosaic of autoimmunity, i.e. multiple combinations of the many factors producing varying clinical pictures, leads to the manifold facets of liver autoimmunity.