3D human liver reconstruction shows structural changes in cirrhosis

An NIH-funded team used a LiverMap pipeline to produce cellular-level 3D reconstructions of human liver tissue and reported architectural changes in cirrhosis, including rearranged vessels, fewer central veins, and more fragmented bile ducts.

Researchers led by Dr. Kelly Stevens at the University of Washington created a three-dimensional reconstruction of human liver tissue down to cellular resolution using a method called the LiverMap pipeline. The team published the results in Science Advances and used tissue from six patients with non-diseased liver samples and three patients with cirrhosis who received transplants. Tissue sections were cleared, labeled with fluorescent antibodies to mark different cell types, imaged by microscopy, and assembled into 3D models by computer software. The reconstructions show lobule organization and the arrangement of veins, arteries, and bile ducts at a finer scale than prior 2D approaches. Key findings: - The study used healthy tissue from six patients and cirrhotic tissue from three transplant patients. - Researchers applied tissue clearing and fluorescent antibodies, then compiled microscopy images into 3D reconstructions using the LiverMap pipeline. - Cirrhotic tissue showed rearrangement of cells and blood vessels across multiple lobules. - Cirrhotic samples had fewer central veins and fewer cells producing a key liver enzyme compared with healthy samples. - The bile duct network in cirrhotic tissue appeared more fragmented than in healthy tissue. Summary: The LiverMap pipeline represents an advance in imaging that revealed specific structural differences between healthy and cirrhotic human liver tissue at cellular resolution. Researchers say further work is needed to build complete lobule reconstructions, to track how these structural changes evolve during disease progression, and to develop comprehensive organ maps that could inform future tissue engineering efforts.