Pigs Grow New Liver in Lymph Nodes, Study Shows

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Pigs Grow New Liver in Lymph Nodes, Study Shows:

Hepatocytes - the chief functional cells of the liver - are natural regenerators, and the lymph nodes serve as a nurturing place where they can multiply. In a new study published online and appearing in a coming issue of the journal Liver Transplantation, researchers at theUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed that large animals with ailing livers can grow a new organ in their lymph nodes from their own hepatocytes. A human clinical trial is next.

"It's all about location, location, location," said senior author Eric Lagasse, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at Pitt "If hepatocytes get in the right spot and there is a need for liver functions, they will form an ectopic liver in the lymph node."

The cells of the liver normally replenish themselves, but need a healthy, nurturing environment to regenerate. However, in end-stage liver disease, the liver is bound up by scar tissue and too toxic for the cells to make a comeback.

"The liver is in a frenzy to regenerate," said Lagasse, who also is a member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center. "The hepatocytes try to repair their native liver, but they can't and they die."

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