肝脏类器官的应用

Applications of liver organoids

在中国,肝病是因病死亡的主要原因之一.揭示肝脏疾病的发生发展机制,发现新的治疗靶点,以及建立医学治疗新方法,是关乎国计民生的重大课题.目前对于人类肝脏疾病的研究主要依赖于细胞系与动物模型,但是二维(two-dimensional, 2D)培养的细胞系缺少组织三维(three-dimensional, 3D)结构,而物种差异又限制了利用动物模型对人类肝脏疾病的进一步认识.类器官是一种新的体外培养系统,利用人类细胞构建的类器官体一方面能模拟体内器官的结构,另一方面体现了人类组织器官的功能,从而提供了新的研究模型.最近,肝脏类器官体技术也得到建立与发展,加深了人们对于肝脏疾病的认识,促进了药物靶点的研究,并催生了一些治疗方案的开发.本文将就肝脏类器官的疾病模拟和治疗应用进行综述.

Liver disease is one of the leading causes of death in China. Unveiling the mechanisms of liver diseases, discovering new targets, and establishing new treatments are important issues. The current knowledge of human liver diseases is mainly derived from cell lines and animal models. However, two-dimensional(2D) cultured cells lack the three-dimensional(3D) structural features of the liver, and interspecies differences limit understanding of human cell-specific mechanisms using animal models. Organoids, as a new in vitro model, recapitulate the key structural and functional properties of human organs. Recently, liver organoids have been widely applied to understand liver diseases and facilitate the discovery and development of new treatments. Here, we review progresses in disease models and therapeutic applications of liver organoids.