Novel hepatic progenitor cell surface markers in the adult rat liver

Novel Cell-Based Therapies in Hepatic Disorders

In the recent decade, liver diseases with high mortality rate have became one of the major health problems worldwide. Liver transplantation is the most effective and the standard treatment for decompensated liver disease, but, shortage of available organs and inaccuracy in modeling of the liver diseases are the most limiting issues in treatment. Regenerative medicine and cell based therapy str...

Adult Hepatic Progenitor Cells

Enrichment of hepatic progenitor cells from adult mouse liver.

Hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) have been characterized in several drug-treated rodent models and in the fetal liver; however, their properties have not been fully clarified in the normal adult liver, presumably because of their relatively small population and the existence of mature hepatocytes. In an attempt to resolve this issue, we developed a new enrichment system for HPCs using their cell...

Adult Hepatic Progenitor Cell Niche: How it affects the Progenitor Cell Fate

The hepatic progenitor cell (HPC) niche is a special microenvironment composed of different cell types, extracellular matrix (ECM) components, growth factors and cytokines released by the niche cells that help to maintain the characteristics of HPCs and the balance between their activation, proliferation and differentiation. Composition of this special microenvironment, created in response to s...

Analysis of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in the histogenesis of hepatic progenitor cell in HBV-related liver diseases

BACKGROUND The origin and heterogeneity of hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the histogenesis of HPCs. METHODS Surgical liver specimens from patients with HBV-related hepatitis and cirrhosis were investigated with double immunofluorescence labeling to detect antigens associated with HPC...