Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-GASTROINTESTINAL AND LIVER PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 291, Issue 4, Pages G575-G583Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/ajpgi.00102.2006
Keywords
cirrhosis; oval cell; stellate cell
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Funding
- NIAAA NIH HHS [R01 AA-010154, R01 AA-012059, R01 AA-01541] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDDK NIH HHS [T32 DK-007713, T32 DK-007568, R01 DK-053792] Funding Source: Medline
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Both myofibroblastic hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and hepatic epithelial progenitors accumulate in damaged livers. In some injured organs, the ability to distinguish between fibroblastic and epithelial cells is sometimes difficult because cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMT). During EMT, cells coexpress epithelial and mesenchymal cell markers. To determine whether EMT occurs in adult liver cells, we analyzed the expression profile of primary HSC, two HSC lines, and hepatic epithelial progenitors. As expected, all HSC expressed HSC markers. Surprisingly, these markers were also expressed by epithelial progenitors. In addition, one HSC line expressed typical epithelial progenitor mRNAs, and these epithelial markers were inducible in the second HSC line. In normal and damaged livers, small ductular-type cells stained positive for an HSC marker. In conclusion, HSC and hepatic epithelial progenitors both coexpress epithelial and mesenchymal markers, providing evidence that EMT occurs in adult liver cells.
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