{"id":211653,"date":"2025-04-17T02:33:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T07:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/scientists-achieve-record-breaking-growth-in-miniature-functional-liver-models"},"modified":"2025-04-17T02:33:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T07:33:35","slug":"scientists-achieve-record-breaking-growth-in-miniature-functional-liver-models","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/scientists-achieve-record-breaking-growth-in-miniature-functional-liver-models","title":{"rendered":"Scientists achieve record-breaking growth in miniature, functional liver models"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

The liver is the body\u2019s control tower for metabolism, powering vital functions like converting nutrients to glucose, storing fat and breaking down toxins. Over a third of the world, however, is thought to be affected by conditions including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which jeopardize key liver functions as the condition progresses. Hepatocyte organoids\u2014the miniature, 3D models of the organ\u2014hold immense promise for accelerating drug development and advancing regenerative therapies.<\/p>\n

In a study published<\/a> in Nature<\/i>, Keio University researchers unveiled a method to proliferate these hard-to-grow organoids<\/a> by a million-fold in just 3\u20134 weeks while maintaining key liver functions. \u201cThese organoids are potentially the closest laboratory representations of the liver and its multifunctionality,\u201d says senior author Professor Toshiro Sato of the Keio University School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

While organoids aim to mimic human organs, the liver\u2019s repertoire of complex functions\u2014and thus the energy it needs to operate\u2014have made it challenging for researchers to grow organoids that proliferate and fully function, says Sato. When prioritizing growth and survival in laboratory settings, hepatocytes, the liver\u2019s main cells, eventually transform into cells resembling cholangiocytes, which line the bile duct. Hepatocyte functions only last 1\u20132 weeks at most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The liver is the body\u2019s control tower for metabolism, powering vital functions like converting nutrients to glucose, storing fat and breaking down toxins. Over a third of the world, however, is thought to be affected by conditions including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which jeopardize key liver functions as the condition progresses. Hepatocyte organoids\u2014the [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}