Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T02:16:47.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Integrating cell Transplantation and Controlled Drug Delivery Technologies to Engineer Liver Tissue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

D. J. Mooney
Affiliation:
Dept. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA 02139 Dept. Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston MA 02115
K. Sanog
Affiliation:
Dept. Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston MA 02115
P.M. Kaufmann
Affiliation:
Dept. Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston MA 02115
K. Mcnamara
Affiliation:
Dept. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA 02139
J.P. Vacanti
Affiliation:
Dept. Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston MA 02115
R. Langer
Affiliation:
Dept. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA 02139
Get access

Abstract

Engineering liver tissue using hepatocyte transplantation may provide a new approach for treating a variety of liver diseases. However, techniques to transplant hepatocytes and promote their survival must be developed. We have developed systems to transplant hepatocytes on highly porous (95%), biodegradable sponges, and to regulate the survival of cultured hepatocytes by releasing specific growth factors in the cellular environment. Sponges were fabricated from poly (L, lactic acid) (PLLA) and polyvinyl alcohol using a particulate leaching technique. Epidermal growth factor and insulin, critical factors for hepatocyte growth and survival in culture, were incorporated into microspheres fabricated from poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) utilizing a double emulsion technique. The incorporated factors were released in a controlled manner over one month in vitro, and the released factors maintained their biological activity, as measured by their ability to promote hepatocyte growth and survival in culture. The growth factor-containing microspheres could be transplanted with hepatocytes using the porous sponges, and the localized, sustained release of these factors improved hepatocyte engraftment 2-fold. These studies suggest that hepatocyte containing tissues can be engineered using cell transplantation, and that regulating the microenvironment of transplanted cells can control their engraftment.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. American Liver Foundation, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1988:Vol. 2 (A).Google Scholar
2. Langer, R. and Vacanti, J.P., Tissue engineering, Science, 260, 920 (1993).Google Scholar
3. Mooney, D.J., Park, S., Kaufmann, P.M. et al, J. Biomed. Mat. Res., in press.Google Scholar
4. Mikos, A.G., Sarakinos, G., Lyman, M.D., Inger, D.E., Vacanti, J.P., and Langer, R., Biotech. Bioeng., 42, 716 (1993).Google Scholar
5. Fausto, N., Prog. Growth Factor Res. 3, 219 (1991).Google Scholar
6. Jaffe, V., Darby, H., Bishop, A., Hodgson, H.J., Int. J. Exp. Path. 72, 289 (1991).Google Scholar
7. Kaufmann, P.M., Sano, K., Uyama, S., and Vacanti, J.P., Transplantation Proc. 26 (1994).Google Scholar
8. Cohen, S., Yoshioka, T., Lucarelli, M., Hwang, L.H., and Langer, R., Pharm. Res. 8, 713 (1991).Google Scholar
9. Mooney, D., Hansen, L., Vacanti, J.P., Langer, R., Farmer, S., and Ingber, D., J. Cell Phys. 151, 497 (1991).Google Scholar
10. Uyama, S., Kaufmann, P.M., Takeda, T., and Vacanti, J.P., Transplantation 55, 932 (1993).Google Scholar
11. Mooney, D.J. Kaufmann, P.M., Sano, K., et at., submitted.Google Scholar
12. Hansen, L.K., and Vacanti, J.P. in Current controversies in biliary atresia. edited by Hoffman, M.A. (R. G. Landes, Austin, TX 1993), p. 96.Google Scholar
13. Langer, R., Science 249, 1527 (1990).Google Scholar
14. Sluzky, V., Tamada, J.A., Klibanov, A.M., and Langer, R., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88, 9377 (1991).Google Scholar