Building blocks for regenerative medicine : vascularized models and immunomodulation to engineer hepatic cell therapies

Despite significant advances in our knowledge about liver pathology and regeneration, non-palliative regimens for most end-stage liver disorders are limited. The only definitive treatment for end-stage liver failure is an orthotopic liver transplant. Unlike other major causes of mortality, death rates from liver diseases are rising instead of declining, leading to widening discrepancy between supply and demand of liver transplants. Thus, the development of an engineered liver construct is crucial to provide an alternative to whole organ transplantation or even for temporary support throughout medical intervention. The development of functional solid organ systems like the liver is an arduous task and faces many challenges. This thesis sought to address two of these challenges: hepatocyte (liver parenchymal cell) sourcing and immune compatibility. The main hurdle in primary human hepatocyte sourcing is the loss of regenerative potential of the cells ex vivo.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Harvard--MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Chhabra, Arnav.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sangeeta N. Bhatia.

• Harvard--MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124281

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/124281