Engineering liver disease models in vitro: emerging trends and innovations

Area of Science:

• Hepatology and Toxicology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Cellular and Molecular Biology

Background:

• In vitro liver disease modelling is essential for understanding complex hepatic pathophysiology.
• Current models require enhancement to accurately recapitulate liver disease states.
• A systematic review of liver structure, cellular components, and injury paradigms is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review liver structure and cellular components for in vitro model design.
• To discuss key liver injury paradigms (steatosis, hepatotoxicity, fibrogenesis, etc.) and their modelling.
• To highlight advances in modelling platforms, including co-cultures, organoids, and liver-on-a-chip systems.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of in vitro liver disease modelling.
• Analysis of liver structural and cellular components relevant to model development.
• Integration of cellular mechanisms with model development strategies for various liver injury types.

Main Results:

• Liver models must incorporate essential structural and cellular elements for accurate pathophysiology.
• Emerging platforms like organoids and liver-on-a-chip systems show promise in capturing complexity.
• Advances enable better recapitulation of multicellular crosstalk, heterogeneity, and injury responses.

Conclusions:

• Future in vitro liver models must accurately mimic liver structure and function.
• Model utility depends on capturing complex cellular interactions and injury dynamics.
• Biologically meaningful outputs under controlled conditions are key for advancing liver disease research.