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Updated: Dec 19, 2025
Generation of a Humanized Mouse Liver Using Human Hepatic Stem Cells
Published on: August 29, 2016
Assembly and Function of a Bioengineered Human Liver for Transplantation Generated Solely from Induced Pluripotent
Kazuki Takeishi1, Alexandra Collin de l'Hortet2, Yang Wang3
1Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
Abstract:
The availability of an autologous transplantable auxiliary liver would dramatically affect the treatment of liver disease. Assembly and function in vivo of a bioengineered human liver derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has not been previously described. By improving methods for liver decellularization, recellularization, and differentiation of different liver cellular lineages of human iPSCs in an organ-like environment, we generated functional engineered human mini livers and performed transplantation in a rat model. Whereas previous studies recellularized liver scaffolds largely with rodent hepatocytes, we repopulated not only the parenchyma with human iPSC-hepatocytes but also the vascular system with human iPS-endothelial cells, and the bile duct network with human iPSC-biliary epithelial cells. The regenerated human iPSC-derived mini liver containing multiple cell types was tested in vivo and remained functional for 4 days after auxiliary liver transplantation in immunocompromised, engineered (IL2rg-/-) rats.
