Center for Organ Transplantation, Department of General Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int. 2012 Aug 15;11(4):360-71. doi: 10.1016/s1499-3872(12)60193-3.
Liver cell transplantation and bioartificial liver may provide metabolic support of liver function temporary and are prospective treatments for patients with liver failure. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are expected to be an ideal cell source for transplantation or liver tissue engineering, however the hepatic differentiation of MSCs is still insufficient for clinical application.
A PubMed search on "mesenchymal stem cells", "liver cell" and "hepatocyte differentiation" was performed on the topic, and the relevant articles published in the past ten years were reviewed.
Hepatocyte-like cells differentiated from MSCs are a promising cell source for liver regeneration or tissue engineering. Although it is still a matter of debate as to whether MSC-derived hepatocytes may efficiently repopulate a host liver to provide adequate functional substitution, the majority of animal studies support that MSCs can become key players in liver-directed regenerative medicine. However the clinical application of human stem cells in the treatment of liver diseases is still in its infancy.
Future studies are required to improve the efficacy and consistency of hepatic differentiation from MSCs. It is necessary to better understand the mechanism to achieve transdifferentiation with high efficiency. More clinical trials are warranted to prove their efficacy in the management of patients with liver failure.
肝细胞移植和生物人工肝可能为肝功能提供暂时的代谢支持，是治疗肝功能衰竭患者的有前途的方法。间充质干细胞（MSCs）有望成为移植或肝组织工程的理想细胞来源，然而 MSCs 的肝向分化对于临床应用仍然不足。
在主题上对“间充质干细胞”、“肝细胞”和“肝实质细胞分化”进行了 PubMed 搜索，并回顾了过去十年发表的相关文章。
从 MSCs 分化而来的肝样细胞是肝再生或组织工程的有前途的细胞来源。尽管 MSCs 来源的肝细胞是否能有效地定植宿主肝脏以提供足够的功能替代仍存在争议，但大多数动物研究支持 MSCs 可以成为肝定向再生医学的重要参与者。然而，人类干细胞在治疗肝脏疾病中的临床应用仍处于起步阶段。
需要进一步研究以提高 MSCs 肝向分化的功效和一致性。有必要更好地了解实现高效转分化的机制。需要更多的临床试验来证明它们在管理肝功能衰竭患者方面的疗效。
