Elucidation of supportive microRNAs during hepatic specification of reprogrammed cells in liver cell therapy (C12*)

新项目C12使用替代方法从干细胞来源产生足够数量的自体肝细胞。使用自体肝细胞的一个优点是在这种情况下可以避免主要的免疫抑制治疗。该小组已经在DFG资助的项目中确定了几种支持肝细胞从多能干细胞分化的microRNA。他们现在将继续使用他们早期工作中确定的miRs的组合。此外，他们将筛选肝癌细胞，以确定miR的mRNA靶点。成纤维细胞直接转分化为诱导肝细胞（iHep）代表了成熟肝细胞的另一个潜在来源，这是两个研究小组最近发现的。C12还将研究microRNA促进这种直接转分化的潜力。

The new project C12 uses an alternative approach to generate sufficient numbers of autologous hepatocytes from stem cell sources. An advantage of using autologous liver cells is that major immunosuppressive therapy could be avoided in this setting. The group has already identified several microRNAs that support hepatocyte differentiation from pluripotent stem cells in a DFG-funded project. They will now continue to use combinations of the miRs identified in their earlier work. In addition, they will screen hepatoma cells in order to identify the mRNA targets of the miRs. Transdifferentiation of fibroblasts directly into induced hepatic cells (iHeps) represents another potential source of mature hepatocytes as recently discovered by two groups. C12 will also investigate the potential of microRNAs to facilitate this direct transdifferentiation.