Abraham Shaked
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Thousands of patients wait for liver transplants, and genetically modified pig organs could one day fill the gap. Scientists can now edit pig genes so that the organs are less likely to be rejected or to trigger inflammation.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
Physiology
- Topics
xenotransplantation
liver xenograft
pig organ transplant
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2030
What they work on
- Define early innate and adaptive immune responses to genetically modified pig livers in human decedents, using spatial transcriptomics and single-nucleus RNA sequencing to find biomarkers of xenograft rejection.
- Use cell-type-specific cell-free DNA, DNA fragments released by dying cells, to monitor immune cell activation and injury of the pig liver over time.
- Assess the pig liver's metabolic and detoxification functions using non-radioactive tracers and metabolomic assays, linking any dysfunction to the decedent's metabolism and immune response.
- Test whether platelet loss (thrombocytopenia) is caused by antibody-driven destruction, complement attack, platelet apoptosis, or pig molecules, and whether approved drugs reverse it.
More about the research
Pig kidneys and hearts have worked in monkeys and in a few humans. Pig livers, however, cause serious problems: a dangerous drop in blood platelets (the cells that help blood clot), metabolic mismatches, and immune responses that are poorly understood. Studying these problems safely in living patients is not yet possible.
Why it matters
Pig liver transplants could eventually help people with liver failure who cannot get a human organ. This work could identify blood biomarkers that warn of rejection and show whether a pig liver can handle human metabolism. It may also point to existing approved drugs that prevent the dangerous platelet loss seen with pig livers, all key steps before clinical trials.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Pablo Sanchez
University of Chicago, IL·Biomedical Engineering
Test whether the liver function of a whole pig, connected to donor lungs by cross-circulation, explains the improved lung recovery seen during ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), in which lungs are kept warm and ventilated outside the body.
Joseph Turek
Duke University, NC·Microbiology & Immunology
Assess the safety and effectiveness of cultured thymus tissue implantation (CTTI) for inducing tolerance to a heart from the same donor in young miniature swine, including the conditioning needed and the fate of implanted thymus slices.
Marian Urban
University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether perfusing a donor heart first with a cardioprotective solution, rather than fully oxygenated blood, improves heart function after in-situ reanimation, measured by echocardiography and blood-flow and pressure readings in a pig model.
The school
University of Pennsylvania: 90 labs on PI Pages, $2.2B a year on research, 750 research doctorates a year.
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