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Japanese geneticists have grown liver cells from stem cells
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
Japanese geneticists have used induced stem cells to produce a simple liver analogue in the lab. The specialists say they have managed to create tissue similar to that which makes up the liver. Although many aspects of the work have not yet been made public, the achievement itself is a significant scientific breakthrough and allows for advances in the treatment of a host of liver diseases.
Takanori Takabe of Yokohama City University says his group's work is just the first step on a very long road to creating an artificial liver. He says that liver-like tissues have now been created using induced pluripotent stem cells. In turn, ips cells were obtained by genetically reprogramming skin stem cells to an embryonic state and changing their development program in the future.
According to experts, the entire process of cell transformation took nine days, after which the geneticists had real hepatocytes (mature liver cells) in their hands. After obtaining individual liver cells, the researchers used special chemical techniques to combine the cells into three-dimensional structures resembling tiny liver particles in a couple of days.
Let us recall that earlier, using a similar technique, Japanese specialists created artificial blood vessels.
Now the specialists say that they conducted experiments on the cells of laboratory mice, but the methods used are universal and should be suitable for humans. In addition, the scientists conducted a functional genetic test of the created cells and were convinced that their biological functions are identical to real liver cells. The created cells metabolically responded to various drugs in the same way as real liver cells.
Takabe says it may be years before the technique can be used to treat people with liver disease. He says the technique could also be used in people with chronic liver disease, but he says the engineered cells need to be stable before they can be implanted. "People with chronic diseases need to have the engineered cells in the liver for at least five years to allow for recovery after surgery," he says.
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