title: Assembly of human organs from stem cells to study liver disease.
abstract: Recently, significant developments in the field of liver tissue engineering have raised new possibilities for the study of complex physiological and pathophysiological processes in vitro, as well as the potential to assemble entire organs for transplantation. Human-induced pluripotent stem cells have been differentiated into relatively functional populations of hepatic cells, and novel techniques to generate whole organ acellular three-dimensional scaffolds have been developed. In this review, we highlight the most recent advances in organ assembly regarding the development of liver tissue in vitro. We emphasize applications that involve multiple types of cells with a biomimetic spatial organization for which three-dimensional configurations could be used for drug development or to explain mechanisms of disease. We also discuss applications of liver organotypic surrogates and the challenges of translating the highly promising new field of tissue engineering into a proven platform for predicting drug metabolism and toxicity.
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Transplantation Section, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors: Kan
authors: K
authors: Handa
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Transplantation Section, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors: Kentaro
authors: K
authors: Matsubara
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Division of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic and Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors: Ken
authors: K
authors: Fukumitsu
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Transplantation Section, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Guzman-Lepe
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors: Alicia
authors: A
authors: Watson
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Transplantation Section, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: sotogutierreza@upmc.edu.
authors: Alejandro
authors: A
authors: Soto-Gutierrez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D009940:Organoids / Q000166:cytology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering