REVIEWS  ARTIFICIAL ORGANS 

Panminerva Medica 2005 March;47(1):1-9

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The role of artificial cells in cell and organ transplantation in regenerative medicine

Chang T. M. S.

Artificial Cells and Organs Research Centre McGill University, Montreal, QB, Canada

Potential applications of artificial cells include cell therapy, gene therapy, enzyme therapy, blood substitutes, drug carriers and many other areas. Only 2 examples will be discussed here. One is the use of artificial cells containing cells with emphasis of the use of hepatocytes for short term implantation in acute liver failure as temporary liver support so as to allow the liver to regenerate. Another example is the use of artificial red blood cells (RBC) as oxygen carrier so as to allow the bone marrow to regenerate the needed RBC.