In world first, Israeli scientists map digital atlas of healthy human liver |
A research team led by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Sheba Medical Center, and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has developed the first open digital atlas of a healthy human liver.
The peer-reviewed findings, recently published in Nature, reveal that the human liver functions in eight precise zones rather than three, as was previously believed.
“The map shows the division of labor in the human liver at a resolution of two microns,” Weizmann’s Prof. Shalev Itzkovitz, the study’s lead researcher, told The Times of Israel.
To put that in perspective, the width of a human hair is about 50 microns.
Using cutting-edge single-cell RNA sequencing, the scientists analyzed the genetic activity of thousands of individual cells simultaneously. High-resolution spatial mapping enabled them to pinpoint the physical location of each cell within the liver.
With these methods, Itzovitz said, the team was able to dispel another scientific misconception by showing that mouse and human livers do not work the same way.
“That’s a surprising discovery,” Itzkovitz said.
The atlas will allow scientists to move beyond dependence on mouse models, enabling the development of precise therapies that target specific zones to treat liver diseases, including metabolically dysregulated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), also known as fatty liver disease.
The human liver: A multitasker
The human liver is the body’s largest and heaviest internal organ.
Within the liver are tiny lobules, shaped like honeycomb hexagons. These filter blood, metabolize nutrients from food, and produce bile and essential proteins.
“The liver is such a central organ for human metabolism and carries out about 500 tasks,” Itzkovitz said.
However, not all liver cells perform all of these functions.
“The liver functions somewhat like an ant colony,” Itzkovitz said. “There is a division of labor........