Scientists grow liver cells from patients' skin cells.Byline: ANI Washington, Oct 9 (ANI): In a breakthrough study, researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have succeeded in producing liver cells from patients' skin cells. Led by Dr. Stephen A. Duncan, the study has paved the way for treating a wide range of diseases that affect liver function. "This is a crucial step forward towards developing therapies that can potentially replace the need for scarce liver transplants liver transplant Hepatic transplant Transplant surgery A procedure that replaces a cancer conquered, metabolically defeated, or substance subjugated liver with one no longer required by its owner, many of whom donate same after an MVA Diseases requiring transplant , currently the only treatment for most advanced liver disease Liver Disease Definition Liver disease is a general term for any damage that reduces the functioning of the liver. Description The liver is a large, solid organ located in the upper right-hand side of the abdomen. ," said Duncan. Loss of liver function can be caused by several factors, including genetic mutations, infections with hepatitis viruses, by excessive alcohol consumption, or chronic use of some prescription drugs. When liver function goes awry a·wry adv. 1. In a position that is turned or twisted toward one side; askew. 2. Away from the correct course; amiss. See Synonyms at amiss. it can result in a wide variety of disorders including diabetes and atherosclerosis atherosclerosis (ăth'ərōsklərō`sĭs): see arteriosclerosis. atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries and in many cases is fatal. For the study, the researchers generated patient-specific liver cells by first repeating a previous work, which showed that skin cells can be reprogrammed to become cells that resemble embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50-150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent. . They then tricked the skin-derived pluripotent stem cells pluripotent stem cell Hematology The 'mother of all cells'–the progenitor of all hematopoietic cells–eg, platelets, RBCs, neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes. See Stem celll. into forming liver cells by mimicking the normal processes through which liver cells are made during embryonic development. Pluripotent stem cells are so named because of their capacity to develop into any one of the more than 200 cell types in the human body. After completing the process, the researchers found that they could very easily produce large numbers of relatively pure liver cells in laboratory culture dishes. "We were excited to discover that the liver cells produced from human skin cells were able to perform many of the activities associated with healthy adult liver function and that the cells could be injected into mouse livers where they integrated and were capable of making human liver proteins," said Duncan. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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