2024/01/17
Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy
A research group led by Associate Professor Kenichi Nagase of the Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy has developed functional nanoparticles that promote the engraftment of hepatocyte tissues, such as cell sheets, after transplantation.
In recent years, regenerative medicine has been gaining attention as a new treatment for liver diseases, involving the creation of hepatocyte tissue ex vivo and its transplantation for treatment. However, a problem has arisen in that hepatocytes have high metabolic activity, leading to necrosis due to an insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients after the transplantation of hepatocyte tissue.
While our research group has clarified the therapeutic effects of sheet-like cell tissues (cell sheets) created from stem cells, in this study, we created functional nanoparticles, which are biodegradable polymers containing basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). By transplanting these along with hepatocyte sheets into rats, we found that the engraftment efficiency of hepatocyte tissue at the time of transplantation improved. Whereas transplanting only hepatocyte sheets resulted in their necrosis, we found that when hepatocyte sheets were transplanted with functional nanoparticles, the hepatocyte sheets engrafted by promoting angiogenesis at the transplantation site.
The functional nanoparticles developed in this study are expected to become an effective transplantation method not only for hepatocyte tissue but also for various other cell tissues.
The results of this research were published in the international academic journal "Journal of Controlled Release" on December 30, 2023.
For the full press release, please see below.