Differentiation potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocyte-like cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Studies have demonstrated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can be induced to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells under certain condition, which provides a new idea for the treatment of end-sate liver diseases, such as acute hepatic failure. OBJECTIVE:To review the discovery, isolation and culture, induction and differentiation, and application prospects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. METHODS:A computer-based online research of CNKI and PubMed databases was performed to col ect articles about bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and their differentiation into hepatocyte-like cells published between 1999 and 2014. The key words were“hepatocyte-like cells, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, celldifferentiation”in Chinese and English. Final y, 52 articles were included in result analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Currently, the most important issue in liver tissue engineering is to find a kind of seed cells with stable traits and liver-specific functions. Mature hepatocytes are difficult to be harvested, and immune rejection and difficulty in in vitro culture also severely limit the development of liver transplantation. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells characterized as multiple differentiation, rapid self-renewal, easy to be cultured and proliferated have been considered as the most promising source of cells. Increasing studies have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into liver cells in vitro and in vivo, and differentiated cells have the synthesis and secretion functions same as hepatocytes. But how to proliferate such a large number of cells, to maintain the good differentiation potential of cells, to optimize the culture conditions in vitro as wel as mechanisms of induction and differentiation mechanisms and clinical security need further studies.