Researchers Aim To Cut Future Need for Liver Transplants

Several years ago, a group of scientists headed by James Ross at the University of Edinburgh discovered primitive liver cells that have the potential to differentiate and repair a damaged liver. Their hope is that theses cell will be able to provide an alternative treatment to liver transplantation because these cells can mature into different cell types both in and out of the body. Some researchers believe that these cells potentially lie dormant within the liver itself. If found, surgeons could then transfer the undifferentiated cells to locations within the damaged liver in order to repair the organ.

This potential treatment is remarkably similar to the liver's natural healing process. The liver repairs itself through three primary mechanisms. First of all, prior research has shown that mature liver cells inherently divide quickly in response to damage. Secondly, some liver repair results from stems cells circulating in the blood stream. The body recruits these cells from the body, and they differentiate to form new liver cells. The third type of liver repair involves the cell type described in this article. This mechanism only responds when the liver undergoes a significant amount of damage. In response, a specific population of primitive liver cells begins to divide and differentiate. Scientists hope to use this last method in order to develop a new treatment for liver failure. Consequently, the origin and cause of the third mechanism will be play an important role in future research.

So far, there have been several reoccurring themes within the development of artificial livers. It is fact that liver transplants are incredibly expensive, and to complicate matters, there are far too few donors. Researchers are currently looking into several mechanical, extra-corporeal liver alternatives, but none of them are cost effective. As a result, there is strong pressure to develop a new treatment because liver failure is currently a fatal disease. This theoretical technique of harnessing primitive liver cells conceptually overlaps with ideas from regenerative medicine and stem cell technology. In this case, the stem cells can potentially be retrieved from the body itself, and subsequently, doctors will simply be activating the body's natural healing response. My guess is that this method would be substantially cheaper than many of the other artificial liver alternative, and as a result, it has a lot of potential.

-John

No author given, Science Daily, 07/07/06
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060706175049.htm