MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, United Kingdom.
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2009 Oct;20(5):568-74. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2009.09.004.
The liver has considerable inherent regenerative capacity through hepatocyte division and hepatic progenitor cell proliferation. In chronic disease regeneration eventually fails and liver transplantation is the only curative treatment. Current work aims to restore liver mass and functionality either through transplantation of stem cell derived hepatocyte-like cells or by stimulating endogenous liver repair. Human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and adult somatic cells can be differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells with potential use in drug testing, bio-artificial livers and transplantation. These cells still have some limitations in functionality, understanding further human liver development and improving tissue culture is required. The use of stem cells and their progeny in animal models of liver disease has been encouraging and stimulated clinical trials to commence.
肝脏具有通过肝细胞分裂和肝祖细胞增殖来实现的强大内在再生能力。在慢性疾病中，再生最终会失败，肝移植是唯一的治愈性治疗方法。目前的工作旨在通过移植干细胞来源的肝样细胞或通过刺激内源性肝脏修复来恢复肝质量和功能。人胚胎干细胞（ESCs）和成人成体细胞可以分化为肝样细胞，具有在药物测试、生物人工肝脏和移植中的潜在用途。这些细胞在功能上仍存在一些局限性，需要进一步了解人类肝脏发育并改善组织培养。干细胞及其后代在肝脏疾病动物模型中的应用令人鼓舞，并刺激了临床试验的开展。
