Liver Organoid Research: Present Situation, limiting Factors and Future Therapeutical Potential in Pediatric Diseases

Organoids are three-dimensional, organ-like cell assemblies in which different cell types have organized themselves in a way that is approximately typical for the corresponding organ in the body. They show three characteristics: self-organization, multicellularity and functionality. The range of organs that can be studied with organoids is growing rapidly and includes the brain, intestine, kidney, stomach, pancreas, lung, liver, prostate, esophagus, gallbladder, and the female reproductive tract, among others, and also the embryo. Organoids are grown either from pluripotent stem cells or from tissue-specific adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are present in a large number of tissues and are responsible for renewing the cells in these tissues. They can only give rise to the cell types that are present in the particular tissue, the stem cell of the intestinal epithelium only produces cells of the intestinal epithelium, but not muscle cells or nerve cells. They are thus multipotent. Today, it is possible to reconstruct organ-like tissue organoids in the laboratory. Stem cells are thereby induced to differentiate by molecular signals and grown in culture systems that promote their three-dimensional self-organization. Rapidly developing organoid technology makes it possible to phenotypically copy cell structure. To some extent, this is also true for the functions of various human organs (for example, brain, thyroid, thymus, intestine, liver, pancreas, stomach, lung, kidney) and even early-stage embryos. As near-physiological 3D culture systems, organoids open up new possibilities to study the development of healthy and diseased organs and offer great potential for translational research.

Aims and Objectives: This manuscript concentrates on liver organoid research and its future role in different pediatric diseases.