Page 124 - IJB-10-3

International

Journal of Bioprinting

REVIEW ARTICLE
Challenges and perspectives of liver tissue

engineering: From cell therapy to bioprinting

Julio Rodríguez-Fernández , M. Teresa Donato 2,3,4 , Gloria Gallego-Ferrer *,
1
1,5
and Laia Tolosa *
2,5
1 Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (CBIT), Universitat Politècnica de València,
Valencia, Spain
2 Experimental Hepatology Unit, Health Research Institute La Fe (IISLAFE), Valencia, Spain
3 Departament of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de València,
Valencia, Spain
4 Biomedical Research Networking Center on Hepatic and Digestive Diseases (CIBER-EHD),
Valencia, Spain
5 Biomedical Research Networking Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine
(CIBER-BBN), Valencia, Spain
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Innovative Tissue and Diseases Models - Novelties in Bioprinting/3D
Bioprinting)

Abstract
Liver tissue engineering offers a remarkable tool for toxicological screening
and an approach to disease modeling, and provides an alternative solution to
liver transplantation in treating end-stage liver diseases. As the liver is a highly
*Corresponding authors: specialized multicellular organ, distinctive features such as diversity of cell types,
Laia Tolosa extracellular matrix composition, and three-dimensional architecture must be taken
(laia_tolosa@iislafe.es) into consideration in recapitulating its physiology. Here, we review the current
Gloria Gallego-Ferrer developments in liver tissue engineering approaches, focusing on their application
(ggallego@ter.upv.es)
to liver disease modeling and treatment, with special emphasis on bioprinting for
Citation: Rodríguez-Fernández high-throughput analysis. We also discuss the challenges encountered and the likely
J, Donato MT, Gallego-Ferrer future developments in the area.
G, Tolosa L. Challenges and
perspectives of liver tissue
engineering: From cell therapy
to bioprinting. Int J Bioprint. Keywords: Liver; Bioprinting; Disease modeling; Hepatotoxicity;
2024;10(3):2706. Regenerative medicine
doi: 10.36922/ijb.2706
Received: January 10, 2024
Accepted: February 26, 2024
Published Online: March 29, 2024 1. Introduction
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article As the biggest internal organ in the human body, the liver plays a key role in more than
distributed under the terms of the 500 different functions, such as protein synthesis (i.e., albumin, transferrin), metabolism
Creative Commons Attribution of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, and detoxification of endogenous and foreign
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, compounds. These functions can be altered by different disorders such as congenital
provided the original work is metabolic diseases, toxic injury, viral infections, metabolic dysfunction-associated
properly cited. steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease),
Publisher’s Note: AccScience or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The incidence of hepatic diseases is increasing
Publishing remains neutral with worldwide and presents high morbidity and mortality rates. Despite the intensive
1
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional research in this area, there are limited therapies available in the clinical setting, and
affiliations. the only effective treatment for end-stage liver disease is liver transplantation, which is

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 116 doi: 10.36922/ijb.2706