Generation of Transplantable Three-Dimensional Hepatic-Patch to Improve the Functionality of Hepatic Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

• Published in: Stem cells and development Vol. 29; no. 5; p. 301
• Main Authors: Nobakht Lahrood, Fatemeh, Saheli, Mona, Farzaneh, Zahra, Taheri, Payam, Dorraj, Mahshad, Baharvand, Hossein, Vosough, Massoud, Piryaei, Abbas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.2020
• Subjects: Animals; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - surgery; Cell Line, Tumor; Cells, Cultured; Coculture Techniques - methods; Extracellular Matrix - physiology; Gene Expression - physiology; Hepatocytes - cytology; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells - cytology; Humans; Liver - cytology; Liver Failure, Acute - surgery; Liver Neoplasms - surgery; Liver Transplantation - methods; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - cytology; Mice; Sheep; Tissue Engineering - methods; hepatic-patch; tissue engineering; liver extracellular matrix; regenerative medicine
• ISSN: 1557-8534
• DOI: 10.1089/scd.2019.0130

Cell therapy and tissue engineering (TE) are considered alternative therapeutic approaches to organ transplantation. Since cell therapy approaches achieved little success for liver failure treatment, liver TE is considered a more promising alternative. In this study, we produced a liver tissue equivalent (called "liver-derived extracellular matrix scaffold [LEMS]-Patch") by co-culture of human bone marrow stromal cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and a hepatoma cell line, Huh7, within an artificial three-dimensional liver-extracellular matrix scaffold. The results showed significant increase in the liver-specific gene expression and hepatic functions, in terms of albumin (ALB) and fibrinogen secretion, urea production, and cytochrome inducibility in the LEMS-Patch compared to controls. In addition, transplanted LEMS-Patch was successfully incorporated into the recipient liver of acute liver failure mice and produced human ALB. Consequently, our data demonstrated that the generated LEMS-Patch could be used as a good platform for functional improvement of hepatic cells in vitro and in vivo.