| Liver, as a vital organ, is responsible for a wide range of biological functions to maintain homeostasis and any type of damages to hepatic tissue contributes to disease progression and death. Viral infection, trauma,
carcinoma, alcohol misuse and inborn errors of metabolism are common causes of liver diseases are a severe known
reason for leading to end-stage liver disease or liver failure. In either way, liver transplantation is the only treatment
option which is, however, hampered by the increasing scarcity of organ donor. Over the past years, considerable
eforts have been directed toward liver regeneration aiming at developing new approaches and methodologies to
enhance the transplantation process. These approaches include producing decellularized scafolds from the liver
organ, 3D bio-printing system, and nano-based 3D scafolds to simulate the native liver microenvironment. The
application of small molecules and micro-RNAs and genetic manipulation in favor of hepatic diferentiation of distinct
stem cells could also be exploited. All of these strategies will help to facilitate the application of stem cells in human
medicine. This article reviews the most recent strategies to generate a high amount of mature hepatocyte-like cells
and updates current knowledge on liver regenerative medicine. |