Liver-on-a-Chip Models of Fatty Liver Disease.

As a consequence of the obesity epidemic and increasing incidence of metabolic syndrome fatty liver disease now affects a large portion of the world’s population. Left untreated, fatty liver disease can progress to more severe pathologic conditions such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. In an effort to probe the pathophysiology of fatty liver disease and its progression, research over the last decade has led to the engineering of models of the liver to aid in drug discovery and study of liver pathophysiology. In this review, we discuss advances in modeling liver tissue and the latest developments in understanding disease etiology and treatment from the perspective of engineered models spanning from conventional planar, static monolayer cultures to those based on the more recently developed bioprinted and liver-on-a-chip platforms. These technologies promise to transform basic biological research, the pharmaceutical industry, and clinical medicine of the liver.