title: Hepatic progenitor cells in liver regeneration: current advances and clinical perspectives.
abstract: When there is a massive loss of hepatocytes and/or an inhibition in the proliferative capacity of the mature hepatocytes, activation of a dormant cell population of resident hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) occurs. Depending on the type of liver damage HPCs generate new hepatocytes and biliary cells to repopulate the liver placing them as potential candidates for cell therapy in human liver failure. Liver injury specific mechanisms through which HPCs differentiate towards mature epithelial cell types are recently become understood. Such new insights will enable us not only to direct HPCs behaviour for therapeutic purposes, but also to develop clinically feasible methods for in vivo differentiation of other stem cell types towards functional hepatocytes. This review aimed to provide the current improved knowledge of the role of HPCs niche and its signals in directing the behaviour and fate of HPCs and to translate this basic knowledge of HPCs activation/differentiation into its clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Aezam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katoonizadeh
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Poustchi
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malekzadeh
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: HPCs niche; differentiation; hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs); liver regeneration