Liver regenerative therapy using glycoside-modified bone marrow

Recent studies have reported that bone marrow cells (BMCs) have the ability to generate functional hepatocytes. However, the efficiency with which BMC transplantation generates functional hepatocytes is rather low. We assumed that if BMCs accumulated directly in liver, the functional BMC-derived hepatocytes should increase more efficiently. An attempt was made to increase the accumulation of BMCs directly in liver through the interaction between hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) and galactose-exposing BMCs. Galactose-exposing BMCs that expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) were injected into Long-Evans-Cinnamon (LEC) rats, a Wilson's disease (WD) model, via the tail vein. The WD is an autosomal-recessive disorder characterized by impaired biliary copper excretion and copper toxicosis, all due to mutations in the atp7b gene. At 5 months after transplantation, GFP-expressing hepatocyte nodules accounted for 2.4% of total liver mass, and the normal ceruloplasmin was detectable in the sera of these LEC rats. These findings suggest that the functional BMC-derived hepatocytes can be generated and the new genes derived from BMCs, such as ATP7B and GFP, can be transferred to LEC rats by the direct accumulation of BMCs in liver without hematopoietic reconstitution in need of preparative lethal irradiation.