title: A Transcriptomic Signature of Mouse Liver Progenitor Cells.
abstract: Liver progenitor cells (LPCs) can proliferate extensively, are able to differentiate into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes, and contribute to liver regeneration. The presence of LPCs, however, often accompanies liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), indicating that they may be a cancer stem cell. Understanding LPC biology and establishing a sensitive, rapid, and reliable method to detect their presence in the liver will assist diagnosis and facilitate monitoring of treatment outcomes in patients with liver pathologies. A transcriptomic meta-analysis of over 400 microarrays was undertaken to compare LPC lines against datasets of muscle and embryonic stem cell lines, embryonic and developed liver (DL), and HCC. Three gene clusters distinguishing LPCs from other liver cell types were identified. Pathways overrepresented in these clusters denote the proliferative nature of LPCs and their association with HCC. Our analysis also revealed 26 novel markers, LPC markers, includingMcm2andLtbp3, and eight known LPC markers, includingM2pkandNcam. These markers specified the presence of LPCs in pathological liver tissue by qPCR and correlated with LPC abundance determined using immunohistochemistry. These results showcase the value of global transcript profiling to identify pathways and markers that may be used to detect LPCs in injured or diseased liver.
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The Centre for Medical Research, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
authors: Adam M
authors: 0000-0003-3212-6938
authors: AM
authors: Passman
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors: Jasmine
authors: J
authors: Low
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors: Roslyn
authors: 0000-0002-7032-2756
authors: R
authors: London
authors: School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Fremantle, WA 6160, Australia.
authors: Janina E E
authors: 0000-0002-3558-5892
authors: JE
authors: Tirnitz-Parker
authors: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan.
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Miyajima
authors: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan.
authors: Minoru
authors: M
authors: Tanaka
authors: Unité de Génétique de la Différenciation, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France.
authors: Helene
authors: H
authors: Strick-Marchand
authors: Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors: Gretchen J
authors: GJ
authors: Darlington
authors: Department of Physiology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Singapore 117411; Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore, Singapore 117411.
authors: Megan
authors: 0000-0002-9628-5842
authors: M
authors: Finch-Edmondson
authors: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors: Scott
authors: S
authors: Ochsner
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The Centre for Medical Research, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
authors: Cornelia
authors: C
authors: Zhu
authors: ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia.
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Whelan
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The Centre for Medical Research, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia; School of Health Sciences, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA 6959, Australia.
authors: Bernard A
authors: BA
authors: Callus
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The Centre for Medical Research, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
authors: George C T
authors: 0000-0002-4740-4702
authors: GC
authors: Yeoh