Cell Lineages in Hepatic Development and the Identification of Progenitor Cells in Normal and Injured Liver

Abstract excerpt

The search for liver stem or progenitor cells has a long history, but there is now sufficient evidence to indicate that such cells do exist in adult animals and probably also in humans (see Refs. 1-6 for reviews). They constitute a reserve compartment that is activated in situations of severe liver injury in which hepatocytes cannot mount an appropriate proliferative response. Proliferation of cells of this...