Decellularized liver as a practical scaffold with a vascular network template for liver tissue engineering

The construction of a functional liver-tissue equivalent using tissue engineering is a very important goal because the liver is a central organ in the body. However, the construction of functional organ-scale liver tissue is impossible because it requires a high-density blood vessel network. In this study, we focused on decellularization technology to solve this problem. Decellularized liver tissue with a fine vascular tree network template was obtained using Triton X-100. The distance between each vascular structure was less than 1 mm. Endothelialization of the blood vessel network with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was successfully performed without any leakage of HUVECs to the outside of the vessel structure. Furthermore, hepatocytes/spheroids could be located around the blood vessel structure. This study indicates that decellularized liver tissue is a potential scaffold for creating a practical liver tissue using tissue engineering technology.