Scottish scientists grow liver cells from skin in search for new drugs

Published on Tuesday 20 October 2009 22:07

A MAJOR stem-cell breakthrough by Scottish scientists could revolutionise the development of new treatments for liver disease.

Researchers have, for the first time, managed to turn adult skin cells into liver cells.

The study, led by Edinburgh University's Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine, paves the way for a "library" of liver cells to be created so new drugs can be easily tested.

In future, it is hoped the cells could also be used in therapies for patients suffering from liver diseases. The research, published in journal Hepatology, used a technique to create induced pluripotent stems cells (iPS cells).

The technology involved manipulating adult skin cells to resemble embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to turn into other types of cells.

But iPS cells are seen as less controversial because they do not involve the use of embryonic tissue, which campaigners have opposed.

The Edinburgh researchers, working with Harvard Medical School in the US, were able to use the technique to create liver cells specific to different ethnic groups. They said the findings were important because the livers of different ethnic groups process drugs in different ways, with some more prone to adverse reactions than others.

The scientists now want to create a library of cell lines which can be used to test new drugs for liver diseases.

Liver cells currently used in testing are often of poor quality because they are taken from dead or donor tissue. The cells do not survive long and do not multiply, making them less reliable for drug testing.

A cell library would enable scientists to weed out chemical compounds that cause adverse reactions at a much earlier stage in the costly process of drug development.

Gareth Sullivan, from the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: "Different populations have varying prevalence of disease and genetic differences with regards to how they process drugs.

"What we have been able to do will help drug discovery because it means we are able to represent different populations and make sure the drugs being developed do not have adverse reactions."

As well as using liver cells created from stem cell lines to test drugs, it is hoped the cells could eventually be used in therapies for liver disease. They could also help other research into liver disease.

Leading stem-cell researcher Professor Ian Wilmut said the results of the research were an "exciting opportunity".

"We are now looking for ways to bring this technology into routine use for drug testing," Prof Wilmut said.