Liver Grown From Stem Cells (10/31/2006)

Scientists at Newcastle University, in the UK, grew a miniature liver, using stem cells taken from umbilical cords.

Cord blood, which is blood taken from an umbilical cord is very rich in stem cells that scientists believe could be used to regenerate several types of tissues including hearts, lungs, skin, etc. Several companies have sprouted recently that will bank cord blood for future use. By storing the umbilical cord blood stem cells in cryogenic containers, people hope to use those cells much later in life, in the event of disease or an accident.

Dr Nico Forraz and Professor Colin McGuckin working with scientists from NASA in Houston, Texas, have cloned a liver using stem cells taken from umbilical cords. They started by separating out the stem cells from regular blood in the umbilical cord which was taken minutes after a birth. They then placed the stem cells in a bioreactor, developed by NASA to simulate the effects of weightlessness. Inside the bioreactor the freedom from gravity allows cells to multiply quicker than normal.

While in the bioreactor, hormones and chemicals are added to coax the stem cells into turning into liver tissue The liver is much smaller than normal, and it is unclear if they used a biodegradable scaffold to grow the liver into the correct shape and size. Scientists in the United States have grown a bladder using such a scaffold.

Professor McGuckin said the transplant of a section of the grown liver could be possible within the next ten to 15 years. However, he said a full transplant using a liver grown in a laboratory is decades away.

By testing drugs on mini livers, researchers could possibly bring new therapies to market much quicker, and at less risk to the patients. Currently testing is done on animals, then on a restriced bases on humans in clinical trials. There are usually 3 to 4 phases of clinical trials. The first phase only constituting a few patients, if successful they move to phase 2 and test with more patients. The process continues until either the drug is proven safe for mass-human use or is shown to be dangerous and all further testing is stopped.

Clinical trials are fairly expensive for companies to undergo, as they require several hospitals, a lot of staff and is regulated by the government. Often times the patients are given the treatments at little or no cost to themselves and are monitored by several doctors and clinicians. Though using the mini-livers for drug testing won't eliminate the need for human testing yet, it shows promise that similar solutions may become possible in the future.

The scientists have created a new company called ConoStem and have teamed up with the Tyneside-based Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences to look at marketing their work to pharmaceutical companies.

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