Rescue of extreme hepatectomy mice by primary hepatocyte-derived 3D bio-printed organ transplantation

Journal article

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an emerging strategy for constructing tissues and organs in vitro. Here, we achieved long-term expansion of primary mouse hepatocytes using a defined medium and constructed liver tissue using 3D bioprinting. The 3D-printed liver tissue demonstrated several essential liver functions and was able to prolong the survival of mice with acute liver failure due to extreme hepatectomy after in vivo transplantation, and the transplanted artificial liver tissue showed distinct functional partitioning. Overall, our results develop a method for long-term in vitro culture of primary hepatocytes and demonstrate the potential of 3D bio-printed liver tissue for clinical translational applications.

Authors: Jin, B; Xie, Z; Wang, Y; Lu, Y; Sun, L

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: Biofabrication
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 015025
• Publication date: 2026-01-13
• Acceptance date: 2025-12-05
• DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ae288d
• EISSN: 1758-5090
• ISSN: 1758-5082
• Language: English
• Keywords: liver zonation; primary mouse hepatocytes; extreme hepatectomy; acute liver failure; 3D bioprinting