胚胎干细胞向肝细胞诱导分化

Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Hepatocytes

胚胎干细胞具有分化成三胚层细胞的潜能。它已被视为治疗多种疾病的一种新兴策略。在现阶段,通过不同的诱导途径可将胚胎干细胞诱导成为肝细胞:体外诱导、体内诱导以及体外和体内相结合诱导分化。然而从体内实验结果来看,其嵌合率及分化率不高,这是一个亟需解决的问题,否则就无法成功地将其应用于临床治疗。

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells with the potential to give rise to all three primary germ layers of the embryo. ES cells have been regarded as a new cell source for cell replacement therapy. Recently, differentiation of hepatocytes from ES cells has been reported using either in vitro, in vivo differentiation protocols, or protocols combining both approaches. Although hepatocytes derived from ES cells promise a potential for treating liver or liver-related diseases, further studies are needed to improve in vivo integration of these cells.