title: Update on hepatic stem cells.
abstract: The liver, like most organs in an adult healthy body, maintains a perfect balance between cell gain and cell loss. Though normally proliferatively quiescent, simple hepatocyte loss such as that caused by partial hepatectomy, uncomplicated by virus infection or inflammation, invokes a rapid regenerative response to restore liver mass. This restoration of moderate cell loss and 'wear and tear' renewal is largely achieved by hepatocyte self-replication. Furthermore, cell transplant models have shown that hepatocytes can undergo significant clonal expansion. Such observations indicate that hepatocytes are the functional stem cells of the liver. More severe liver injury activates a facultative stem cell compartment located within the intrahepatic biliary tree, giving rise to cords of biliary epithelia within the lobules before these cells differentiate into hepatocytes. A third population of stem cells with hepatic potential resides in the bone marrow; these haematopoietic stem cells can contribute to the albeit low renewal rate of hepatocytes, make a more significant contribution to regeneration, and even completely restore normal function in a murine model of hereditary tyrosinaemia. How these three stem cell populations integrate to achieve a homeostatic balance is not understood. This review focuses on three aspects of liver stem cell biology: 1) the hepatic stem cell candidates; 2) models of cell transplantation into the liver; and 3) the therapeutic potential of hepatic stem cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology and Hepatology, Imperial College School of Medicine, London and Histopathology Unit, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, UK. m.alison@ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Alison
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poulsom
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Forbes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic / Q000166:cytology*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000166:cytology; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*