Research from SangHoon Lee et al. on a new 3D liver on a chip that enables more detailed study of the paracrine signalling effects on liver tissue function is featured in Chemistry World today!
Read the Chemistry World article here, including independent comment from Gretchen Mahler at Binghamtom University, US. An excerpt is below:
“Researchers in South Korea have developed a three-dimensional liver model that can recreate cell signalling within the organ. The liver on a chip could cut tests on animals by providing an accurate artificial model of how the organ responds to new drugs.The liver contains two kinds of cells. 80% are hepatocytes and the remaining 20% are non-parenchymal cells, including hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). HSCs work with hepatocytes when the liver is damaged, playing a vital role in liver regeneration. Interactions between HSCs and hepatocytes are not well understood, but both direct cell–cell contact and short distance cell–cell signalling, called paracrine signalling, are known to be involved. Despite numerous artificial liver models, no study has yet looked at paracrine influence alone.”
Design concept (top) and operation mechanism (bottom) of the chip
Spheroid-based three-dimensional liver-on-a-chip to investigate hepatocyte–hepatic stellate cell interactions and flow effects
Seung-A Lee, Da Yoon No, Edward Kang, JongIl Ju, Dong-Sik Kim and SangHoon Lee
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC50197C
