Stem Cells Manage To Grow Human Liver Tissue In Mice

Stem Cells Manage To Grow Human Liver Tissue In Mice

The results of an international experiment have shown that scientist were able to grow human liver tissue in mice using stem cells.

The research team was headed by Takanori Takebe from the Yokohama University and Graduate School of Medicine. He said that the results of this experiment are one of the first and most important steps to being able to grow organs like the liver or pancreas for transplants using stem cells.

The liver bud is constructed using induced stem cells to form a type of liver tissue that is found during five or six weeks of development.

Induced stem cells were discovered in 2006 and have the potential to change the way stem cells are viewed. They are grown from mature tissue, generally skin cells and are transformed into the neutral, unspecialized stem cell that is used to form a wide variety of cells from brain to organ to skin and even hair.

The buds managed to develop enzymes that were found in the human body while the liver is created. Blood vessels were also created and the liver took shape and resembled normal liver tissue within two days.

Actually the development of blood vessels is the breakthrough in this stem cell experiment, with the tissue being revascularized after it was implanted in the mice.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday July 07 2013, 4:54 AM EST. Ref: USA Today. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0