Organ Culture Model of Liver for the Study of Cancer Treatment for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Abstract:The liver, the largest organ of the human body, is a multifunctional organ with various metabolic activities that plays a fundamental role in maintaining the body and in sustaining life. Although the liver has great regenerative capacity and recovery, the damage caused by chronic diseases such as cancer or viral infections can lead to permanent loss of liver function. Studies on the mechanism of liver disease, have focused on the selection of cell and tissue culture techniques, including strategies based on in vitro models. The organ culture is a promising tool for the study of liver diseases, because it can mimic the complex of the microenvironment in vivo using a three-dimensional model of human liver tissue. These models allow a better study of the specific functions of the liver. In this context, we have analyzed the development of a hepatocarcinoma, obtained by inoculating a murine hepatocarcinoma cell line, Hepa 1/A1s, in the liver of 10 mice of the strain C57BL / 6. After 20 days from the inoculation, the portion of liver invaded by the tumor was removed from the animals and cultured. A group of 5 liver explants were used as a control and other 5 explants were cultured for 4 weeks in a complete medium containing 10% Citozym, a food supplement with reported antioxidant properties. The cancer-invaded hepatic lobes, treated with Citozym, showed a clear reduction of the weight and the volume of the hepatic tumors, when compared with the control explants.

Three-dimensional (3D) liver cell models - a tool for bridging the gap between animal studies and clinical trials when screening liver accumulation and toxicity of nanobiomaterials

“…In a similar manner, tumour liver explants can also be used as 3D ex vivo models of HCC for drug efficacy screening [227,228]. A further study by Piera et al used liver explants from mice inoculated with a HCC cell line, Hepa1/A1, to study the antineoplastic potential of a well-known antioxidant, Citozym [229]. Despite their many uses and in vivo relevance, whole organ and tumour liver explants do have many limitations associated with them.…”

Three-dimensional (3D) liver cell models - A Tool for Bridging the Gap Between Animal Studies and Clinical Trials When Screening Liver Accumulation and Toxicity of Nanobiomaterials

“…In a similar manner, tumour liver explants can also be used as 3D ex vivo models of HCC, for drug e cacy screening [193,194]. A further study by Piera et al used liver explants from mice inoculated with a HCC cell line, Hepa1/A1, to study the antineoplastic potential of a well-known antioxidant, Citozym [195]. Despite their many uses and in vivo relevance, whole organ and tumour liver explants do have many limitations associated with them.…”

In Vitro Models of the Liver: Disease Modeling, Drug Discovery and Clinical Applications

“…Whole mouse liver organ explants have been used to study the effects of oxidation on the progression of hepatocarcinoma. In 2016, Torricelli and colleagues reported inoculating the murine hepatocarcinoma cell line Hepa 1/A1s into the livers of live mice, which proliferated in vivo for 20 days before the livers were removed and used as a whole organ explant model to study the effects of the antioxidant Citozym on tumor size in culture over a 4-week period (65).…”