LIVER STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

• The liver originates from the endoderm in the embryonic foregut and is the largest
internal organ in the human body, accounting for 2–5% of the body weight. It performs a
complex array of more than 500 functions, including metabolic, synthetic, immunologic,
and detoxification processes.
• The liver is one of the most complex organs in the human body. The mature human liver
is composed of four lobes and structurally and histologically, the liver can be divided into
four tissue systems: intrahepatic vascular system, stroma, sinusoidal cells, and
hepatocytes.
Those tissue systems are made from multiple cell types, including the parenchymal cells,
hepatocytes, and cholangiocytes, together with various non-parenchymal cells. Hepatocytes
constitute ~80% of the liver mass. The remaining part is made up by non-parenchymal cells,
including liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, Kupffer cells, lymphocytes and stellate cells.
LIVER LOBULE
• The liver exhibits a hierarchical structure consisting of repeated functional tissue units,
the liver lobule.
The hepatic lobule is a building block of the liver tissue, consisting of a portal triad, hepatocytes
arranged in linear cords between a capillary network, and a central vein.
A portal triad is a distinctive arrangement within lobules. It consists of the following five
structures:

 proper hepatic artery, an arteriole branch of the hepatic artery that supplies oxygen
 hepatic portal vein, a venule branch of the portal vein, with blood rich in nutrients but low in
oxygen
 one or two small bile ductules of cuboidal epithelium, branches of the bile conducting
system.
 lymphatic vessels
 branch of the vagus nerve

HYDROGELS:

• Hydrogels are a promising candidate to mimic the liver ECM functionally in liver tissue
engineering.
• A hydrogel is a network of natural or synthetic hydrophilic polymer chains possessing a
degree of flexibility similar to natural tissues.
• Hydrogels are divided into two categories based on their origin:
• Natural: Natural hydrogels originate from organisms and have natural advantages to
mimic the ECM better when compared to synthetic hydrogels. Several natural hydrogels
have been used for LTE, including collagen, gelatin, hyaluronan, fibrin, alginate,
chitosan, polyhydroxyalkanoates, cellulose, and agarose.
• Synthetic: Synthetic hydrogels are artificial hydrogels with a defined composition and
structure. Compared to biological hydrogels, synthetic hydrogels are less complex and
have stronger mechanical structure, less animal origination, are well controlled,
commercially friendly, which makes them more popular. Examples used in liver tissue
engineering are polyethylene-glycol(PEG), polyvinyl alcohol(PVA), polylactide(PLA).

BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES

• The most fundamental characteristics of hydrogels for liver tissue engineering are
appropriate biological properties.
• Biological properties such as:
• Biocompatibility:  For example, cellular biocompatibility makes the nanofibrillar
cellulose hydrogel suitable for the proliferation and differentiation of human hepatic cell
lines 
• Biodegradability: Biodegradable hydrogels can not only act as the supportive scaffold for
cells to perform many kinds of activities and form desirable tissue, they also provide the
possibility to be cleared locally by enzymes that are specific to degrade those
biomaterials. The degradation speed can be regulated by the polymerization of the
hydrogel.
• Bioactive: They should also be bioactive, which means that the hydrogels are capable of
transmitting dynamic signals instantly and are able to perform a variety of stimuli
responses properly.
• Physiochemical properties are as significant as biological properties to biomaterials.
Physical parameters are important determinants for cell growth and phenotype regulation.
Some of the physical properties are:
• Stiffness: it has been demonstrated that the proliferation rates of normal and transformed
hepatocytes are strongly induced by matrix with a higher stiffness.  Another study
demonstrated that primary hepatocyte functions were preserved when cultured on matrix
of normal liver stiffness (400–600 Pa) but significantly reduced when cultured on matrix
with the stiffness of fibrotic liver (1.2–1.6 kPa).
• Porosity and pore size: The pore size and porosity of scaffolds play an important role in
the diffusion of growth factors and induce vascularization thereby aiding maintenance of
liver specific functions. As hepatocytes require 5-10% more oxygen compared to other
cells, pore size is a crucial factor which controls the mass transport of oxygen and
nutrients into the interior of the scaffold.

INTRODUCTION

• Various liver diseases result in terminal hepatic failure, and liver transplantation, cell
transplantation and artificial liver support systems are emerging as effective therapies for
severe hepatic disease. However, all of these treatments are limited by organ or cell
resources, so developing a sufficient number of functional hepatocytes for liver
regeneration is a priority.
ECHEGILE ASHLEY 2020/9220
NWANSI ELLEN 2019/8204
ALLI FATIAH 2019/8666
BAYODE JOSHUA 2019/8149
BANKOLE OLUWATOYIN 2019/8279
ERIFEYIWA SAMUEL 2019/8354