Humanized Rat Model

Impact of a humanized rat liver model Having a rat model with a more-human like liver will allow investigators to better understand normal and diseased human liver physiology and biochemistry (82). It will allow us to test and compare the ability to repopulate livers with different cell sources which have had limited success in the mouse (3). Primary human hepatocytes have been shown to efficiently repopulate recipient livers (32), however with limited access to large quantities, researchers must examine whether other types of hepatic stem cells can act as potential donors as well. Having an efficient model that can be used to perform repopulation experiments in short periods of time could in theory lead to new therapies for patients. It could as serve as a tool to better understand the steps in differentiation and maturation of iPSC-derived hepatocytes in vivo and serve as host for organ bud transplants (131). One would be able to generate multiple animals with a patient’s own iPSC-derived hepatocytes and …show more content…
Evidence from multiple labs has shown that humanized mice are capable of being infected with various hepatic pathogens, which have allowed for major advancements in our understanding of those diseases (84, 133). We would gain insights into disease progression in a whole animal setting and would be able test antiviral drugs at various stages of the disease to assess their efficacy to eventually improve patient care and outcomes. It could allow for the development of disease models that more accurately mimic human conditions since not all humans diseases can be modeled in non-humanized models. It might also serve as potential PDX model for hepatic cancers, where we would be able to test different treatment protocols to produce better treatment plans for patients (120,