The establishment of diseased human whole organ model by normothermic machine perfusion technique: Principle of concept.

BACKGROUND: The global incidence of liver diseases is rising, yet there remains a dearth of precise research models to mimic these diseases. The use of normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) to study diseased livers recovered from liver transplantation (LT) recipients presents a promising avenue. Accordingly, we have developed a machine perfusion system tailored specifically for the human whole diseased livers and present our experience from the NMP of diseased livers. METHODS: Six diseased livers recovered from LT recipients with different diagnoses were collected. The diseased livers were connected to the machine perfusion system that circulated tailored perfusate, providing oxygen and nutrients. The pressure and flow of the system were recorded, and blood gas analysis and laboratory tests of perfusate and bile were examined to analyze the function of the diseased livers. Liver tissues before and after NMP were collected for histological analysis. RESULTS: Experiments showed that the system maintained the diseased livers in a physiological state, ensuring stable hemodynamics and a suitable partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The results of blood gas analysis and laboratory tests demonstrated a restoration and sustenance of metabolism with minimal damage. Notably, a majority of the diseased livers exhibited bile production continuously, signifying their vivid functional integrity. The pathological characteristics remained stable before and after NMP. CONCLUSION: We successfully established the machine perfusion system tailored specifically for diseased human whole livers. Through the application of this system, we have developed a novel in vitro model that faithfully recapitulates the main features of human liver disease. This model holds immense promise as an advanced disease modeling platform, offering profound insights into liver diseases and potential implications for research and therapeutic development.

Strong Metal-Support Interaction for 2D Materials: Application in Noble Metal/TiB2 Heterointerfaces and their Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Formic Acid Dehydrogenation.

Strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is a phenomenon commonly observed on heterogeneous catalysts. Here, direct evidence of SMSI between noble metal and 2D TiB2 supports is reported. The temperature-induced TiB2 overlayers encapsulate the metal nanoparticles, resulting in core-shell nanostructures that are sintering-resistant with metal loadings as high as 12.0 wt%. The TiOx -terminated TiB2 surfaces are the active sites catalyzing the dehydrogenation of formic acid at room temperature. In contrast to the trade-off between stability and activity in conventional SMSI, TiB2 -based SMSI promotes catalytic activity and stability simultaneously. By optimizing the thickness and coverage of the overlayer, the Pt/TiB2 catalyst displays an outstanding hydrogen productivity of 13.8 mmol g-1 cat h-1 in 10.0 m aqueous solution without any additive or pH adjustment, with >99.9% selectivity toward CO2 and H2 . Theoretical studies suggest that the TiB2 overlayers are stabilized on different transition metals through an interplay between covalent and electrostatic interactions. Furthermore, the computationally determined trends in metal-TiB2 interactions are fully consistent with the experimental observations regarding the extent of SMSI on different transition metals. The present research introduces a new means to create thermally stable and catalytically active metal/support interfaces for scalable chemical and energy applications.