Tissue Transplantation Along the Anteroposterior Axis of Dugesia dorotocephala as a Model for the Treatment of Liver Cirrhosis via Stem Cell Therapy

Overview

Allison Hennings Liver cirrhosis is a complication of various liver diseases, which are leading causes of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Currently, the only treatment for late stage liver cirrhosis is liver transplant, which leaves patients at risk for many complications. However, stem cell therapy, especially using induced pluripotent stem cells, is being investigated as a potential treatment for liver cirrhosis. This experiment attempted to model the treatment of liver cirrhosis via stem cell therapy by transplanting tissue along the anteroposterior axis in planarians. Planarians were irradiated and then received either head, midsection, or post-pharyngeal transplants from healthy donors. The amount of days it took for planarians to heal completely was then determined following transplantation. It was concluded that planarians only regenerated after receiving a head transplant, whereas midsection and post- pharyngeal recipients did not survive. Additionally, recipients of head transplants regenerated faster than irradiated planarians without head transplants (ANOVA p =3.64 x 10-10), allowing for the rejection of the null hypothesis. More research is needed to explain the survival of the head transplant recipients compared to the other groups in order to properly apply this data to the treatment of liver cirrhosis via stem cell therapy.