16 research outputs found
Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 20
Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs
Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 16
Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs
Generating hepatic cell lineages from pluripotent stem cells for drug toxicity screening
Hepatotoxicity is an enormous and increasing problem for the pharmaceutical industry. Early detection of problems during the drug discovery pathway is advantageous to minimize costs and improve patient safety. However, current cellular models are sub-optimal. This review addresses the potential use of pluripotent stem cells in the generation of hepatic cell lineages. It begins by highlighting the scale of the problem faced by the pharmaceutical industry, the precise nature of drug-induced liver injury and where in the drug discovery pathway the need for additional cell models arises. Current research is discussed, mainly for generating hepatocyte-like cells rather than other liver cell-types. In addition, an effort is made to identify where some of the major barriers remain in translating what is currently hypothesis-driven laboratory research into meaningful platform technologies for the pharmaceutical industry