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Liver Stem Cells

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Regenerative Medicine

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Abstract

The liver is an essential organ for life, serving as the center for metabolism and playing various critical functions in controling systemic homeostasis. Among ­multiple types of cells comprising the liver, hepatocytes and cholangiocytes are the two epithelial cell lineages in the organ and commonly originate from hepatoblasts during organogenesis in the developing embryos. Thus, hepatoblasts possess bi-lineage differentiation potential into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes, a phenotypic feature that can best distinguish and define liver stem cells. Although the liver is considered not to rely on any resident stem cell population for their homeostatic maintenance, facultative stem/progenitor cells with the ­bi-lineage differentiation potential, referred to as oval cells in rodents, do emerge under severe damage ­conditions and contribute to the regenerative processes. Identification of specific markers has enabled researchers to isolate and characterize these fetal and adult stem/progenitor cell populations. In vitro culture ­systems as well as in vivo studies using animal models have been elucidating detailed molecular mechanisms, including intercellular signaling webs and ­intracellular transcriptional regulatory networks, that coordinately regulate development, differentiation and behavior of these cells. Understanding the ­cellular and molecular basis of liver development and regeneration from the ­perspective of the embryonic and adult stem/progenitor cells should make invaluable contributions to future development of technologies to produce fully functional hepatocytes in vitro that are applicable for cell therapy and ­pharmaceutical screening.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Tohru Itoh, Minoru TanakaTanaka & Atsushi Miyajima

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  1. Tohru Itoh
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  2. Minoru TanakaTanaka
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  3. Atsushi Miyajima
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Correspondence to Tohru Itoh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Klinik und Poliklinik für Herzchirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Rostock, Schillingallee 35, Rostock, 18057, Germany

    Gustav Steinhoff

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Itoh, T., TanakaTanaka, M., Miyajima, A. (2011). Liver Stem Cells. In: Steinhoff, G. (eds) Regenerative Medicine. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9075-1_14

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