A new study from the lab of CGR Director Linda Griffith, recently published in Nature Communications, details the development of a sophisticated “liver-on-a-chip” that more accurately replicates human liver physiology. By inducing blood vessels to grow into the tissue, researchers can now observe how immune cells circulate and interact with liver cells—a critical step in understanding metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
The team also recently reported a paradoxical inflammatory response to the MASH drug resmetirom in Communications Biology, highlighting the power of these microphysiological systems to uncover why certain treatments only work for a subset of patients. These advances in “moving over mice” continue to pave the way for more human-centric, effective drug development for complex metabolic and inflammatory conditions.
