NYSCF Innovator Creates System to Mass-Produce Bioengineered Livers

NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Takanori Takebe, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Yokohama City University in Japan, led a study demonstrating a successful system for mass produced, bioengineered livers.

Published in Cell Reports, the researchers created three different derived cell types from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, then combined the three cell types in specially engineered plates to engineer so-called “liver micro-buds.” This process yielded tens of thousands of these liver micro-buds per batch, resulting in functionally significant quantities for use in cell replacement therapies and toxicity testing.

To test the therapeutic proof of principle, the researchers challenged the functionality of the equivalent of one batch of liver micro-buds in mouse models of liver disease. In an exciting result, the micro-buds rescued the mice from liver disease.

Significantly, the process to create liver micro-buds uses only iPS cells and no animal feeder byproducts, typically used to make cells for research purposes, smoothing the path towards use in humans.

Read the press release from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Read the paper in Cell Reports