title: Stem cells with decellularized liver scaffolds in liver regeneration and their potential clinical applications.
abstract: End-stage hepatic failure is a potentially life-threatening condition for which orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the only effective treatment. However, a shortage of available donor organs for transplantation each year results in the death of many patients waiting for liver transplantation. Cell-based therapies and hepatic tissue engineering have been considered as alternatives to liver transplantation. However, primary hepatocyte transplantation has rarely produced therapeutic effects because mature hepatocytes cannot be effectively expanded in vitro, and the availability of hepatocytes is often limited by shortages of donor organs. Decellularization is an attractive technique for scaffold preparation in stem cell-based liver engineering, as the resulting material can potentially retain the liver architecture, native vessel network and specific extracellular matrix (ECM). Thus, the reconstruction of functional and practical liver tissue using decellularized scaffolds becomes possible. This review focuses on the current understanding of liver tissue engineering, whole-organ liver decellularization techniques, cell sources for recellularization and potential clinical applications and challenges.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Rd., Hangzhou, 310003, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Lanjuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D008115:Liver Regeneration; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D010477:Perfusion; D051381:Rats; D013552:Swine; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
keywords: endothelialisation; liver perfusion; mesenchymal stem cells; scaffold; surface modification; transplantation