Optimizing 3D In Vitro Technologies to Better Predict Patient Response to New Therapies
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) begins with excessive fat accumulation in the liver and can slowly progress in patients from asymptomatic steatosis (simple fatty liver) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH, liver inflammation and fibrosis), to more advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis.
Effectively mimicking this chronic, multi-stage disease at the bench requires complex 3D in vitro liver models and assays that reflect human disease biology and response to treatments.
In this webinar, InSphero Director of Business Development Dr. Sue Grepper will provide an overview of the many different types of in vitro and in vivo models used for studying NAFLD and NASH. Then she’ll take you on a virtual tour of how the InSphero scientific team evaluates new drugs and therapies under development, using Gilead's Firsocostat, an ACC inhibitor currently in Phase II trials, as an example.
Sue will also share some of the latest results from our internal studies that show how NASH conditions affect regulation of lipid metabolism genes and pathways in our 3D in vitro models.
You will learn:
- The basics of human fatty liver disease and the challenges of modeling NAFLD and NASH in vitro
- The range of 3D liver models InSphero works with and how we choose the right model for each study based on research objectives and drug targets
- How to apply the latest 3D in vitro technologies (e.g., high-throughput screening, high content imaging, targeted mRNA sequencing, bioinformatics, etc.) to evaluate the effects of single and combination therapies using human 3D in vitro models that better predict patient response in the clinic
- Our scientific vision for the future of 3D in vitro modeling for NAFLD and NASH drug discovery