Progress in differentiation of hepatocytes from embryonic stem cells / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Acute liver failure and end-stage liver diseases are llfe-threatening.So far,orthotopic liver transplantation is the unique treatment available for these late-stage liver diseases,which,however,is limited by the lack of donor liver.While hepatocyte transplantation,bioartificial liver and tissue engineered liver are potential alternative treatments,the limited availability of functional hepatoeytes is the major hurdle.Due to their extensive capacity for self-renewal and pluripotency to differentiate into cells,embryonic stem cells represent a potential unlimited cell source for therapy.The clinical application of embryonic stem cells in liver diseases requires well-defined and efficient protocols for differentiation,characterization and purification in vitro.Hepatic differentiation of embryonic stem cells in different culttire systelns and the problems remained are reviewed in this article.