The eye is used as a window to study liver health

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Mr Per Olof BerggrenThe Karolinska Institutet research group has used the technique of transplanting cells and small organs into the anterior chamber of the eye in mice since 2008.

In recent years, our method has proven to be a powerful research tool for monitoring insulin-producing cells in the pancreas during the development of type 2 diabetes. Now the platform has been expanded to include liver research, showing that there is potential for the tool to be used in other medical fields as well, says Per-Olof Berggren.

The research was funded by, among others, the European Research Council (ERC), the Erling Persson Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Karolinska Institutet, the Jonas and Kristina af Juschnik Foundation, the Diabetes Association, the Swedish Research Council and the Karolinska Foundation. Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Per Olof Berggren is co-founder and CEO of Biocrine AB. Co-authors Ingo Leibiger and Barbara Leibiger are consultants at the same company. Volker Lauschke is co-founder, CEO and shareholder of HepaPredict AB, as well as co-founder and shareholder of PersoMedix AB. Other authors declare no competing interests.

Publishing

“Intraocular liver spheroids for high-resolution, non-invasive monitoring of hepatocyte function in vivo.”Francesca Lazzeri-Barceló, Nuria Oliva-Villarnau, Marion Pagnol, Barbara Lebiger, Olaf Bergmann, Volker M. Lauschke, Ingo P. Liebiger, Noah Morozzi, Per Olof Berggren, Nature Communicationsonline 26 January 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45122-4.