title: Stem cell differentiation and human liver disease.
abstract: Human stem cells are scalable cell populations capable of cellular differentiation. This makes them a very attractive in vitro cellular resource and in theory provides unlimited amounts of primary cells. Such an approach has the potential to improve our understanding of human biology and treating disease. In the future it may be possible to deploy novel stem cell-based approaches to treat human liver diseases. In recent years, efficient hepatic differentiation from human stem cells has been achieved by several research groups including our own. In this review we provide an overview of the field and discuss the future potential and limitations of stem cell technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University of China, Shanghai 200003, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Claire N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Medine
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Hay
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment; D022781:Hepatocytes; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000196:embryology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*