Hepatic cell encapsulation using a decellularized liver scaffold

Purpose To improve effect of liver disease treatment, tissue engineering approach such as direct hepatocyte injection has been investigated. Encapsulation, mixing cells and biomaterials to enclose cells within a biomaterial capsule, is commonly used to deliver cells into the body. Many kinds of biomaterials including natural and artificial materials have been used. The capsule must have biocompatibility and microstructure for cell culture, survival and proliferation as well as cell function and therapeutic effects. However, most biomaterials used for encapsulation have low biocompatibility, insufficient constituents and an unsuitable 3-dimensional structure. To solve these problems, we performed encapsulation using a decellularized liver scaffold (DCLS) with a native extracellular matrix (ECM) and natural porous microstructure including vasculature.