A decade of liver organoids: Advancements in disease modeling.

Abstract

Liver organoids are 3D cellular models of tissue in which cells interact to form unique structures in culture. Since their inception, liver organoids with various cellular compositions, structural features, and functional properties have been described over the past ten years. Methods to create these advanced human cell models range from simple tissue culture techniques to complex bioengineering approaches. These liver organoid culture platforms have been utilized in various liver research fields, including the modeling of liver diseases to regenerative therapy. This review will discuss how liver organoids are used to model diseases, including hereditary liver diseases, primary liver cancer, viral hepatitis, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Specifically, we will focus on studies that utilized two widely adopted approaches: differentiation from pluripotent stem cells and epithelial organoids cultured from patient tissues. These approaches have enabled the generation of advanced human liver models and, more importantly, the establishment of patient-tailored models for evaluating individual-specific disease phenotypes and therapeutic responses.