Mesenchymal stem cells to liver

Hangzhou, China -

The ability of bone marrow derived mesenchymal cells to differentiate into various lineages is well-known. A recent paper (Chen et al. Hepatocytes induced by conditioned culture medium of hepatocytes. J Cell Biochem. 2007 Mar 5;) describes a novel protocol for inducing differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocytes.

Essentially, mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in hepatocyte conditioned media. In cultures the cells acquired a morphology that was similar to hepatocytes in that they appeared “round, epitheloid, and binucleated”. The mesenchymal cells expressed the following at both the gene and protein level: AFP, HNF-3beta, CK19, CK18, ALB, TAT, and G-6-Pase. Most interestingly, the paper reports that administration of these “in vitro generated” hepatocytes into mice with liver damage was able to induce improvement in albumin production and inhibition of systemic transaminase levels.

Since mesenchymal stem cells are already in Phase III clinical trials by Osiris, it will be interesting to see once approval is gained, how many different uses for these cells will evolve clinically.

Currently, numerous patents exist for various types of mesenchymal stem cells. For example, the The Picower Institute for Medical Research holds a patent on Blood Borne Mesenchymal Stem Cells, whereas Osiris has numerous patents such as Human mesenchymal stem cells which has very broad claims.