Bits & Atomen Kun je een kunstmatige lever injecteren?
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Injectable Hydrogel Mini Livers Work In Mice
- MIT researchers created injectable hydrogel 'mini-livers' that let liver cells and supporting fibroblasts form functioning cell clusters after injection into mice.
- In mice the clusters survived and performed many liver functions for at least two months by embedding cells in a metacrylate/gelatin hydrogel with collagen-producing support cells.
Immune Reaction And Implant Location May Be Flexible
- Early immune response looks manageable: mice didn't require long-term extra immunosuppression for the injectable clusters to function for two months.
- The clusters were placed in fat tissue near blood vessels rather than next to the native liver, suggesting implantation site flexibility.
Scaling And Vascularization Are The Main Hurdles
- Key challenges are scaling volume and preventing small clusters from entering the bloodstream while keeping them vascularized.
- Researchers plan to test different cluster sizes and cell mixes because large clumps may need canalization and small ones can travel through vessels.