Personalized liver testing with mini-livers for fatty liver disease
Organoid-guided Precision Hepatology for Steatohepatitis
Researchers will use patient-derived mini-livers and gene-editing tools to find why some adults with fatty liver develop steatohepatitis.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cincinnati, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11289295 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you take part, researchers will grow tiny human livers (organoids) from donated cells and use gene-editing and large-scale stem cell approaches to study how common genetic differences change liver fat and inflammation. They will expose these mini-livers to fatty acids like oleic acid to mimic insulin-resistant metabolic stress and measure genomic and transcriptomic responses. The team will use CRISPR to test the effects of specific variants (for example, GCKR rs1260326) and compare organoid findings with data from thousands of patients. The aim is to identify personalized mechanisms that could point to better diagnostics or targeted treatments for steatohepatitis.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults (21+) with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or steatohepatitis, especially those with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes and willing to donate blood or tissue samples, would be most relevant.
Not a fit: People without fatty liver disease, children, or those unwilling/unable to provide samples are unlikely to benefit directly from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could help tailor future diagnostics and treatments by revealing how individual genetic differences drive fatty liver and inflammation.
How similar studies have performed: Organoid and pluripotent stem cell approaches for liver disease are emerging and early work, including preliminary organoid-GWAS data from this team, shows promise but remains experimental.
Where this research is happening
Cincinnati, United States
- Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr — Cincinnati, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Takebe, Takanori — Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Takebe, Takanori
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.