If other laboratories adopt this method then the impact on animal use in the liver research field would be immediate.
- Meritxell Huch
Dr Meritxell Huch (pictured) from the Gurdon Institute, who last night (Weds) received the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) 3Rs Prize, has developed a method that enables adult mouse stem cells to grow and expand into fully functioning three-dimensional liver tissue.
Using this method, cells from one mouse could be used to test 1000 drug compounds to treat liver disease, and reduce animal use by up to 50,000.
Growing hepatocytes (liver cells) in the laboratory has been attempted by liver biologists for many years, since it would reduce their reliance on using mice to study liver disease and would open up new opportunities in medical research and drug safety testing. Until now no laboratory has been successful in deciphering how to isolate and grow these cells.
Liver stem cells are typically found in a dormant state in the liver, only becoming active following injury to produce new liver cells and bile ducts. Dr Huch and colleagues at the Netherlands’ Hubrecht Institute located the specific type of stem cells responsible for this regeneration, which are recognised by a key surface protein (Lgr5+) that they share with similar stem cells in the intestine, stomach and hair follicles.
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Image: Meritxell Huch
Credit: NC3Rs
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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