title: Adaptive remodeling of the biliary tree: the essence of liver progenitor cell expansion.
abstract: The liver progenitor cell population has long been thought to exist within the liver. However, there are no standardized criteria for defining the liver progenitor cells, and there has been intense debate about the origin of these cells in the adult liver. The characteristics of such cells vary depending on the disease model used and also on the method of analysis. Visualization of three-dimensional biliary structures has revealed that the emergence of liver progenitor cells essentially reflects the adaptive remodeling of the hepatic biliary network in response to liver injury. We propose that the progenitor cell exists as a subpopulation in the biliary tree and show that the appearance of liver progenitor cells in injured parenchyma is reflective of extensive remodeling of the biliary structure.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Cindy Yuet-Yin
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kok
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyajima
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0032, Japan. itohru@iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itoh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001659:Biliary Tract / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D006801:Humans; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Ductular reaction; Regeneration; Three-dimensional visualization