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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Engineers have developed a new liver tissue model to help uncover the stages of liver regeneration in the hope of helping individuals with liver disease., According to a new study published in the journal Proceedingsofthe National Academy of Sciences. According to a media release from MIT, researchers may be able to avoid some liver transplants by finding effective ways to stimulate the liver to regenerate naturally, and the liver donated after the transplant. He said it could help his growth.
Liver experts told Fox News that most patients requiring liver transplants are diagnosed with chronic diseases such as viral hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), cancer, and fatty liver disease. He said that there are many cases. Researchers hope that doctors will have more options for treating chronic liver disease by learning how to take advantage of the regenerative properties of the liver.
According to MIT, even if 70% of the liver is removed, the remaining tissue can re-grow to full size within a few months. Meredith Stone is a 50-year-old medical professional who was diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis. It is an autoimmune disease that attacks the bile ducts of the liver and damages the liver. She shared that Stone wasn’t part of her study, but she’s currently suffering from cirrhosis, even though she hasn’t drank alcohol for over 20 years.Stone told Fox News she’s currently taking Drugs such as obeticholic acid Ursodial wants to slow the progression of the disease and prevent liver transplantation.
“I heard about this study and hoped that these researchers could find a way to help the liver regenerate, which would give such a part of the heart,” Stone added. Little research has been done on PBC and I hope they find a way to help my liver and others dealing with catastrophic liver disease. “
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Researchers have used mouse studies to understand the regenerative pathways that occur after liver damage or disease. According to the report, one of the key factors is the interrelationship between cells in the liver called hepatocytes and cells that line the inside of blood vessels called endothelial cells. Researchers explained that hepatocytes produce factors that help blood vessel development, and endothelial cells produce growth factors that help hepatocytes grow. Researchers also said that previous studies in mice found that blood flow was another factor in promoting liver regeneration.
MIT researchers wanted to model the interaction of liver regeneration, so they teamed up with Christopher Chen, a prominent professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, like a blood vessel. Designed a microfluidic device with a functioning channel.
Researchers grew blood vessels along one of these microfluidic channels, and then added hepatocyte-derived aggregates from human organ donors.
They have developed a chip designed to allow molecules such as growth factors to flow between blood vessels and hepatic spheroids in response to release. This design allowed researchers to knock out genes of specific cell types and see how they affect the entire regeneration process.
Sangeeta Bhatia, a member of the Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer and the Institute for Medical Engineering Science at MIT, said in the release: It seems important to humans, but I couldn’t understand all the clues to proliferate human hepatocytes. ”
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This “regeneration on the chip” model showed that increased fluid flow did not stimulate hepatocytes to initiate division. This is part of the cycle involved in liver regeneration. However, they found that hepatocytes entered the mitotic cycle if they also provided an inflammatory signal called the cytokine IL-1-β, Release said.
Researchers also blocked endothelial cell genes involved in the production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a molecule that is also involved in zebrafish liver regeneration. By blocking the genes in these cells, it was reportedly possible to demonstrate that this molecule stimulates human hepatocytes to enter the cell division cycle.
The team plans to investigate several other growth factors and molecules that are produced on the model during liver regeneration. They also want to find a signal that tells the liver when to stop playing.
“Currently, if a patient suffers from liver failure, they need to be transplanted because they don’t know if they will recover on their own, but if they know who has a strong regenerative response, they will be for a while. If we could stabilize them, we could save those patients from the transplant. ”
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Bhatia hopes that a team of researchers will be able to use the molecule to help treat patients with liver failure. Researchers also said that another possibility could be for doctors to use biomarkers to determine the likelihood that a patient’s liver will regenerate spontaneously.