Scientists have grown the liver from human skin cells and successfully transplanted it

Researchers grew small, fully functional liver cells from human skin cells, and then successfully transplanted them into rats.

Currently, the number of people in need of a liver transplant is significantly higher thanIn addition , the operation itself is expensive, and after transplantation, the patientTo solve these problems, a team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh has developed a technology for growing livers in the laboratoryfrom human skin cells.

They collected tissue samples from participants.studies and reprogrammed them into induced stem cells. Then they were divided into groups to guide along the development paths of various types of liver tissue, and placed them in rat liver frameworks. It would take 2 years to grow such miniature organs in the natural environment, but they matured in a bioreactor in just a month.

The researchers transplanted the livers into five laboratory rats that were bred for immunosuppression. After four days, the team examined the animals to see how well they functioned. transplanted organs.

In the animal’s body, the mini-liver itself worked well,since bile acids and urea were present in the blood serum of rats, but in all cases there were problems with blood flow around and inside the transplanted organ. For this reason, the organ functioned normally only for four days.

So far, the team is considering using such a liver as a temporary implant for people waiting for a donor organ.However, in the future, the scientists plan to increase the functionality of the organ to create an affordable universal graft.

The problem of rejection may also disappear soontransplanted organs, since microparticles have recently been invented that cause the body to take the transplanted tissue for its own.

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