News

     The Shumakov Center for Transplantology and Artificial Organs recently lead a breakthrough in bioengineering by developing a technology which allows the growth of artificial liver tissue. Experiments were conducted on lab animals, and included the use of the Nikon IM-Q BioStation and a series of Nikon microscopes.

     Sergey Gote, the director of the Shumakov Center and an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that “We grew live liver cells, and bone marrow cells on a synthetic and bioresorbable material. That is, we created a lattice of engineered tissue, which when added to an organism, began functioning as a liver.” Pre-clinical trials were conducted on animal models of acute or chronic liver failure. One year after transplant, no animals in the experimental group died, while the mortality rate in the control group was 50%. A week after transplant, liver function in the experimental group returned to normal.

    “Morphology analyses 90 days after transplant into the mesentery of the small intestine showed healthy liver cells and new blood vessels, which grew through the lattice and started forming new tissue. In a sense, it generated a new liver” said Shagidulin.

    According to data from the Shumanov Center, liver failure, which is mainly caused by cirrhosis and viral hepatitis, is the seventh leading cause of disability in the Russian Federation. Cirrhosis of the liver is the fourth largest cause of death for people over 40 years old. In recent years, leading research laboratories in the US and Japan have been actively conducting studies on complex bioengineered organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs and heart, but none have advanced past the stage of animal testing.