Liver, Pancreas and Biliary Tract
Experimental hepatology applied to stem cells

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Abstract

Transplantation is an accepted treatment today for many people suffering from organ failure. More and more patients are referred for transplant surgery, and the waiting lists are growing longer because not enough organs and tissues are donated for transplantation. This has led to several potentially viable alternatives being considered, including bio-artificial support devices, the transplantation of mature cells or stem/progenitor cells and the potential transplantation of xenogenic organs and cells [Burra P, Samuel D, Wendon J, Pietrangelo A, Gupta S. Strategies for liver support: from stem cells to xenotransplantation. J Hepatol 2004;41:1050–9]. Numerous investigators around the world are engaged in these investigations and the pace of discovery has begun to accelerate in recent years.

To take stock of the achievements of recent years, the AISF sponsored a Single-Topic Conference, held in Padua on 26–27 May, 2006, with the participation of many leading investigators from various parts of Italy and Europe. This present paper summarizes the content of the Conference.

Different issues were analysed, from the biology of stem cells to the possible use of gene therapy. The speakers were clinicians and scientists interested in diseases not only of the liver but also of other organs such as the kidney or heart. The fact that numerous specialties were represented helped the audience to understand the stem cell research area from different standpoints, and what research has achieved so far.

Introduction

Transplantation is an accepted treatment today for many people suffering from organ failure. More and more patients are referred for transplant surgery, and the waiting lists are growing longer because not enough organs and tissues are donated for transplantation. This has led to several potentially viable alternatives being considered, including bio-artificial support devices, the transplantation of mature cells or stem/progenitor cells and the potential transplantation of xenogenic organs and cells [1]. Numerous investigators around the world are engaged in these investigations and the pace of discovery has begun to accelerate in recent years.

To take stock of the achievements of recent years, the AISF sponsored a Single-Topic Conference, held in Padua on 26–27 May, 2006, with the participation of many leading investigators from various parts of Italy and Europe. This present paper summarizes the content of the Conference.

Different issues were analysed, from the biology of stem cells to the possible use of gene therapy. The speakers were clinicians and scientists interested in diseases not only of the liver but also of other organs such as the kidney or heart. The fact that numerous specialties were represented helped the audience to understand the stem cell research area from different standpoints, and what research has achieved so far.

Section snippets

“Stem cells” (Malcolm R. Alison, London)

Regenerative medicine has been grabbing many headlines in both the biomedical and the popular press over the last years, not just concerning ethical issues but also regarding the therapeutic potential of embryonic stem (ES) cells versus adult stem cells, although we suspect that sometimes a view on the latter may be clouded by one's moral standpoint [2].

Stem cell is a term commonly used to describe a cell that can differentiate into multiple cell types and maintain self-renewal activity [3].

A

Heart (Gino Gerosa, Padova)

The alleged capacity of adult stem cells to transdifferentiate into cardiac cell types and the discovery of endogenous cardiac repair mechanisms have suggested, for the first time, that cell replacement therapies might be feasible in the clinical setting [6]. Cellular therapy for treating ischaemic heart disease and congestive heart failure is a growing field of clinical research. To date, this research has involved cells from autologous skeletal muscle (donors who are also the recipients of

Conclusions

The Greek Titan, Prometheus, is a fitting symbol for regenerative medicine. As punishment for giving fire to humankind, Zeus ordered Prometheus chained to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver each day, but Prometheus’ liver was able to regenerate itself daily, enabling him to survive. The scientific researchers and medical doctors of today hope to turn the legendary concept of regeneration into reality by developing therapies to restore lost, damaged or aging cells and tissues in the human

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to all the speakers (see list below) who contributed to a unique and stimulating meeting. We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the AISF and its very professional staff, particularly Monica Moretti and Clara Grossi.

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    See Appendix A for the list of speakers.

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