The production and use of "chimera" tissue is now a thing of the past: Ahmed Ali, a doctoral student in Prof. Jens Kurreck's working group, has developed a chemically precisely defined culture medium consisting of growth factors, insulin, selenium, sugars and salts to cultivate human liver cells. The cells, which have been acquired commercially, must first be weaned from the FCS in which they are supplied. The second challenge was then to adapt the new medium precisely to the needs of human liver cells. To replace the murine collagen (Matrigel), a human collagen was isolated from human placentas.

The functionality of the cells, from which a two- and three-dimensionally printed human liver metabolic tissue has been printed, has already been demonstrated: The human liver cells react sensitively to cytotoxic substances such as okadaic acid, which is produced by algae.

Original publication:
Ali, A.S.M.; Berg, J.; Roehrs, V.;Wu, D.; Hackethal, J.; Braeuning, A.;Woelken, L.; Rauh, C.; Kurreck, J. (2024).Xeno-Free 3D Bioprinted Liver Model for Hepatotoxicity Assessment.Int. J. Mol.Sci. 2024, 25, 1811. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25031811

Further information:
https://www.tu.berlin/ueber-die-tu-berlin/profil/pressemitteilungen-nachrichten/ersatz-fuer-tierversuche-jetzt-ganz-ohne-tierleid