Sangeeta Bhatia’s lab at MIT has engineered hepatocytes encased in hydrogel microspheres that behave like liquid under pressure and set into a porous scaffold once injected. In mice, the cells survived for at least two months, producing the key enzymes and proteins of a working liver.
The dual-state microspheres allow the graft to be delivered through a syringe, bypassing major surgery. Once in place, the scaffold permits blood vessels to grow through, keeping the cells alive-a critical advance over earlier injectable therapies that failed because cells suffocated.
The technology could transform care for chronic liver failure. Patients too frail for transplantation, who are routinely triaged off waiting lists, might receive an injection as an alternative or as a bridge while they wait for a donor organ. The approach also opens the door to repeat dosing and localized immunosuppression embedded in the scaffold, potentially avoiding the systemic side effects of current anti-rejection drugs.
The immune rejection problem remains unsolved, and the results are from mice. Larger animal studies are next, with first-in-human safety trials likely targeting bridge-to-transplant patients. The long-term source of hepatocytes at clinical scale-likely from induced pluripotent stem cells-is still being refined.
If all goes well, an injectable liver therapy could reach patients in the early 2030s.