
Cross section of a human liver, taken at autopsy examination, showing multiple large pale tumor deposits. The tumor is an adenocarcinoma derived from a primary lesion in the body of the pancreas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chronic or acute, liver failure can be deadly. Toxins take over, the skin turns yellow and higher brain function slows.
“There is no effective therapy at the moment to deal with the toxins that build up in your body,” said Neil Talbot, a Research Animal Scientist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service. “Their only option now is to transplant a liver.”
Talbot thinks a line of special liver cells could change that. In an interview with the American Society of Animal Science, he discussed how a line of pig liver cells called PICM-19 could perform many of the same functions as a human liver.
In 1991, Talbot created PICM-19 from the cells of an 8-day-old pig embryo. The cell line is significant because it is “immortal,” meaning the cells can divide an infinite number of times. Many immortal cells lines continue dividing because they are derived from cancer cells; however, PICM-19 cells are derived from epiblast cells, the embryonic stem cells that form in the early stages of embryo development.
This immortal cell line has helped Talbot study how cells differentiate. Cells from the PICM-19 lines naturally differentiate into bile duct cells or hepatocytes. Hepatocytes do the bulk of the work in a liver. Hepatocytes form and secrete bile, store glycogen, control blood glucose, process vitamin D, and metabolize cholesterol and fat.
“The PICM- 19 cells are the cells that really do all the metabolic functions of the liver,” said Talbot.
Hepatocytes also “scrub” toxins from the blood. Talbot said PICM-19 cells could do the same thing inside an artificial liver. There have already been several in vitro tests of artificial liver devices, and the ARS scientists are working on ways to grow the PICM-19 cells without needing “feeder cells.” Feeder cells are mouse cells that hold PICM-19 cells in place and provide important molecules for PICM-19 cell growth and maintenance.
Artificial livers are still in development, but Talbot pointed out other applications for PICM-19 cells. Talbot and fellow scientists have used PICM-19 to study malaria, toxoplasmosis and hepatitis viruses. Researchers could also use the cells to study certain cancers of the liver or investigate the changes in the bile duct associated with cystic fibrosis.
Talbot recommends future studies on how PICM-19 cells respond to selective pressures. He said scientists could select for more efficient liver cells by exposing PICM-19 cells to toxins in culture.
“A lot of cells would die, but the survivors would really be tough,” Talbot said.
Those tougher cells could make artificial liver devices more effective. Scientists could also use genetic modification to prompt PICM-19 cells to behave like other cells in the body.
“Maybe we want to enable it to make insulin,” Talbot said. “It will be like a pancreas.”
With PICM-19 cells filling in for livers or other organs, the transplant list could get a lot shorter.
The Latest Bing News on:
Artificial liver
- Inteligencia artificialon February 4, 2023 at 9:11 am
Google ha anunciado un nuevo evento centrado en su buscador y en la IA, por lo que podría presentar el proyecto con el que planea plantar cara a ChatGPT. ChatGPT, el chatbot de OpenAI ...
- Inteligencia artificial genera alarma mundialon February 1, 2023 at 3:10 am
Santo Domingo.-Con el gran desafío a la condición humana que conlleva el uso de la aplicación ChatGPT, el tema de la inteligencia artificial en el cual se basa la herramienta, ha acaparado la atención ...
- China prepara su propia inteligencia artificial como ChatGPTon January 30, 2023 at 3:22 am
ChatGPT está despertando el interés masivo por estos chatbots potenciados por inteligencia artificial. Microsoft invirtió 1 mil millones de dólares en OpenAI en 2019 y, según se informa ...
- Qué es ChatGPT, el revolucionario sistema de inteligencia artificial que preocupa a algunos expertoson January 29, 2023 at 3:59 pm
ChatGPT responde en cuestión de segundos a una petición aleatoria sobre cómo "escribir un poema sobre inteligencia artificial al estilo de Carlos Drummond de Andrade"; la calidad del resultado ...
- Reseña: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approachon January 29, 2023 at 9:09 am
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach es un recurso valioso para cualquier persona interesada en entender los fundamentos y el estado actual de la IA, y sus aplicaciones en diferentes campos ...
- Inteligencia artificialon January 28, 2023 at 10:02 pm
También es sumamente inquietante. Se trata del ChatGPT, una especie de prototipo de inteligencia artificial. Este sistema está generando mucha polémica y mucha expectación en todo el mundo, porque ...
- ¿Las 5 mujeres más bellas de la historia? Esto respondió la inteligencia artificialon January 28, 2023 at 8:51 am
Es inevitable comprobar de qué clase de tecnología estamos hablando con la inteligencia artificial; así que en un singular ejercicio, le preguntamos sobre la belleza y nos sorprendió con su ...
- Inteligencia artificial, lo que las empresas mexicanas han entendido de ellaon January 27, 2023 at 9:01 am
Las empresas mexicanas invertirán durante este 2023 una importante suma en herramientas en inteligencia artificial. Se han implementado en grandes empresas departamentos dedicados al desarrollo ...
- In only 30 days, AI discovers potential drug for liver canceron January 27, 2023 at 5:57 am
An artificial deep learning system, developed specifically for medical research, has identified a novel drug candidate for liver cancer in just 30 days.
- Prepárese: trabajos que desaparecerían o degradarían por inteligencia artificialon January 27, 2023 at 4:23 am
La inteligencia artificial (IA) es una ciencia que, cada vez más, gana terreno en el campo humano. Desde asistentes de voz hasta redes sociales, plataformas de streaming y herramientas de ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Artificial liver
[google_news title=”” keyword=”artificial liver” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
[/vc_column_text]
The Latest Bing News on:
PICM-19
- Feed has no items.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
PICM-19
[google_news title=”” keyword=”PICM-19″ num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]