Artificial cells in liver disease - Artificial Cells, Cell Engineering and Therapy - page 233

functions, such as those involving P 450 enzyme systems, essential for the
effectiveness of extracorporeal liver support devices.
Another area of future research is the use of fetal liver tissue. Fetal tissue
offers significant advantages in that it may be transplanted across the histo-
compatibility barrier, eliminating the need for immunosuppression following
transplantation. However, important ethical questions must be resolved before
fetal tissue can be freely used. Also, recent tissue engineering studies suggest
that by carefully selecting hepatocyte attachment substrates and polymer
supports (scaffoldings) it may be possible to produce bioartificial matrices for
producing liver tissue for transplantation or extracorporeal liver support
systems. 44 Other future approaches for liver support in congenital metabolic
liver disease may involve gene therapy techniques. In theory, a functional gene
could be inserted into defective liver cells to improve a previously deficient liver
function. This approach would allow autologous hepatocyte transplantation
without any need for immunosuppression.
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