Hamburg, Germany—scientist from University of Medical Center have attained success in growing liver cells on resorbable scaffolds made from material similar to surgical sutures.
In an interview, Joerg-Matthias Pollok stated that “"Currently isolated liver cells are used for liver cell transplantation, but these cells suffer during cell isolation and cryopreservation, which is one reason there is limited success with this type of transplant procedure." Through their tissue engineering approach, the German scientist successfully created a new liver tissue as a potential solution to the onstacles challenging the liver cell transplantation.
The team isolated liver cells from 12 human liver specimens with a viability of 82 percent. After a two-day culture period, liver cells formed tightly packed cellular aggregates, called spheroids, and took on a liver-like appearance. Human liver cells were distributed across a three-dimensional porous structure of the polymer scaffolding. From day two to four, the average number of spheroids more than doubled from 18 to 41 per visual field. In conclusion, Pollock stated that "Our experimental model represents a promising technique to culture human liver cells and prepare them for transplantation on a biodegradable polymer scaffold into the peritoneal cavity. Further studies are underway to confirm our results and may ultimately offer viable clinical options for liver cell transplantation in the future."
This is one of the recent developments to address issues on liver failure around the globe. Reportedly, the tissue can be use in place of donor organs during liver transplantation or as a replacement until a suitable donor is available.
Liver failure is considered one of the serious problems around the world. For instance, as of January, 2011 records from Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network shows that about 16,000 Americans are on the waiting list to receive a suitable liver. Liver cell transplantation offers a possible solution in overcoming the organ shortage.