Human liver organoids as an in vitro model of fatty liver

Introduction Liver disease research is hampered by the lack of liver models that can faithfully recapitulate complex disease phenotypes. Increasing efforts are being made to generate 3-dimensional tissue culture models, known as organoids, that adequately reflect the in vivo situation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to generate organoids from cells isolated from resected human liver tissue (personalized model) to generate a fatty liver as an in vitro model.

Methods Human liver tissue was enzymatically dissected to obtain single cell suspensions. Liver organoids were treated with fatty acids at different time points. Cell type and activation/differentiation and fatty acid specific markers were determined by real time PCR. Finally, Paraffin blocks were prepared and organoids were further characterized by H&E and immunofluorescence staining.

Results and Conclusion Our data show that the generation of liver organoids from primary human tissues and the generation of fatty liver is possible by inducing oleic acid. However, the overall success and final differentiation status of the organoids depends on several factors, such as the enzymes used for tissue dissection, the media composition, and also the underlying disease of the patient. Nevertheless, proliferation of hepatocytes, macrophages, myofibroblasts, bile duct cells, as well as fatty acid synthase was successfully induced.

Publication History

Article published online:
23 January 2024