Cell therapy for liver regeneration

Successful clinical applications of cellular therapies depend on a number of factors. First, there should be an efficient way of producing high-quality cells for transplantation. Second, the differentiation of stem cells into mature hepatocytes should be accomplished without the need for viral vectors or alterations in cell cycle regulators to evade the risk of tumorigenicity. Finally stem cell techniques developed in laboratories should be tested on larger animal models like primates as they can better predict the responses in humans as compared to rodents. This chapter will present information on liver structure, function, associated diseases, and their prevalence worldwide and especially in Pakistan. Furthermore, this chapter will address the conventional therapies used to treat the prevalent liver diseases along with their limitations. The chapter will discuss potential of various cell types such as hepatocytes, hepatic progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and embryonic stem cells for liver regeneration. It will further review studies related to liver bioengineering and scaffolds-assisted liver regeneration. Finally, this chapter will discuss the future prospects of stem cells for liver regeneration.