ABSTRACT
Human hepatocyte transplantation to treat liver-based metabolic deficiencies and acute liver failure has shown promising early improvement in liver function; however, long-term success has not been achieved. Stem cell transplantation to restore liver function as an alternative to whole liver transplantation has not been successful in humans. As alternative sources of cells for human hepatocyte transplantation, stem cells are under investigation. The liver extracellular matrix presents an ideal scaffold for stem cell differentiation into hepatocytes, as well as cell transplantation. The innovative technique of the decellularized liver matrix presents great potential as the scaffold for hepatocyte maturation and transplantation, and allows the development of engineered recellularized liver graft for transplantation.
Subject(s)
Humans , Extracellular Matrix , Hepatocytes , Transplantation , Liver Failure , General Surgery , Liver Regeneration , Liver Transplantation , Methods , Stem Cell Transplantation , Methods , Tissue Engineering , Methods , Tissue ScaffoldsABSTRACT
The distribution of shear stress on the bottom of the parallel plate flow chamber under different inlet velocities was analyzed by numerical simulation. In the present experimental study, the projection planes of the relative errors at 0.7% level were obtained, and then the efficient region and the actual entrance length were further corrected by introducing the concept of relative error. The results showed that the efficient region of the chamber increased with the direction of length while the inlet velocity was increased, and the actual entrance length was much greater than that of the theoretical entrance length. Therefore, in accordance to the needed range of shear stress in experiment and to the needed efficient region area, the optimum design of the flow chamber is necessary.