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Rastovic U, Bozzano SF, Riva A, Simoni-Nieves A, Harris N, Miquel R, Lackner C, Zen Y, Zamalloa A, Menon K, Heaton N, Chokshi S, Palma E. Human Precision-Cut Liver Slices: A Potential Platform to Study Alcohol-Related Liver Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 25:150. [PMID: 38203321 PMCID: PMC10778645 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25010150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) encompasses a range of pathological conditions that are complex to study at the clinical and preclinical levels. Despite the global burden of ALD, there is a lack of effective treatments, and mortality is high. One of the reasons for the unsuccessful development of novel therapies is that experimental studies are hindered by the challenge of recapitulating this multifactorial disorder in vitro, including the contributions of hepatotoxicity, impaired lipid metabolism, fibrosis and inflammatory cytokine storm, which are critical drivers in the pathogenesis of ALD in patients and primary targets for drug development. Here, we present the unique characteristics of the culture of human precision-cut liver slices (PCLS) to replicate key disease processes in ALD. PCLS were prepared from human liver specimens and treated with ethanol alone or in combination with fatty acids and lipopolysaccharide (FA + LPS) for up to 5 days to induce hepatotoxic, inflammatory and fibrotic events associated with ALD. Alcohol insult induced hepatocyte death which was more pronounced with the addition of FA + LPS. This mixture showed a significant increase in the cytokines conventionally associated with the prototypical inflammatory response observed in severe ALD, and interestingly, alcohol alone exhibited a different effect. Profibrogenic activation was also observed in the slices and investigated in the context of slice preparation. These results support the versatility of this organotypic model to study different pathways involved in alcohol-induced liver damage and ALD progression and highlight the applicability of the PCLS for drug discovery, confirming their relevance as a bridge between preclinical and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Una Rastovic
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Sergio Francesco Bozzano
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Antonio Riva
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Arturo Simoni-Nieves
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Nicola Harris
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Rosa Miquel
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Carolin Lackner
- Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Yoh Zen
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Ane Zamalloa
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Krishna Menon
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Nigel Heaton
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Shilpa Chokshi
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Elena Palma
- The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, Foundation for Liver Research, London SE5 9NT, UK
- Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
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