Alex Soto-Gutierrez, MD, PhDAssistant Professor of PathologyUniversity of Pittsburgh

Thursday, Fenruary 25th4:00-5:00PM, Lurie - Baldwin Auditorium303 East Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60611Host: Dr. Jason WertheimVideoconference available on the Evanston campus, Tech E311

Title:"New Technologies for Liver Replacement: Regrowing Organs"

Abstract:Liver transplantation is the only curative therapy for severe end-stage liver disease-either a partial liver from a living or cadaveric donor or a whole cadaveric liver. Only a third of the individuals on the liver transplant waiting list will be transplanted and the demand for livers is projected to increase 23% in the next 20 years. Thus, organ availability is an absolute constraint on the number of liver transplants that can be performed. Regenerative therapies aim to enhance liver tissue repair and regeneration by any means available (cell repopulation, tissue engineering, biomaterials, proteins, small molecules and genes). Recent experimental work suggests that liver repopulation and engineered liver tissue are best suited to the task if an unlimited availability of functional induced pluripotent stem (iPS)-derived liver cells can be achieved. We will review current knowledge on liver repopulation and generation of engineered livers. We also discuss the numerous barriers that have to be overcome for clinical implementation.