Fetal Liver Stem/Progenitor Cell Transplantation: A Model to Study Tissue Mass Replacement and Cell-Based Therapies.
Liver transplantation is the only therapeutic treatment for patients with end-stage liver diseases. However, donor organ scarcity is the major limitation, and therefore, alternative strategies are urgently needed. The ultimate goal for successful cell-based therapies is the ability of transplanted cells to efficiently engraft and reconstitute injured liver mass. To evaluate the repopulation capacity of transplanted cells, it is essential to identify their specific characteristics, as well as to study the mechanism(s) Through which transplanted donor cells replace tissue mass in hepatic microenvironments, using well-established cell transplantation models. To date, rat fetal liver stem/progenitor cells represent the most efficient cell population to reconstitute the near-normal liver and the liver microenvironment with advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis, and therefore, can be used for developing strategies in engineering potential donor cells in the future that will be useful for clinical application in hepatic cell therapy.The present protocol describes the isolation of epithelial stem/progenitor cells derived from ED14/15 fetal livers of DPPIV+F344 or F344-Tg(EGFP) F455/Rrrc rats, the immunohistochemical staining method to detect E-cadherin-positive epithelial cells within unfractionated cell isolates, their transplantation into different DPPIV-liver microenvironments (near-normal, retrorsine-treated, and TAA-induced fibrotic/cirrhotic liver), as well as detection methods to follow the fate of transplanted cells in the recipient liver (see Fig. 1).
Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 200 Lothrop Street, BST S-404, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.
Mladen I
MI
Yovchev
Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 200 Lothrop Street, BST S-404, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA. mio19@pitt.edu.|McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. mio19@pitt.edu.
Michael
M
Oertel
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D053686:Fetal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000601:surgery; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000601:surgery; D008106:Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013853:Thioacetamide / Q000633:toxicity
C000610228:CDH1 protein, rat; D015820:Cadherins; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids; D013853:Thioacetamide; C003300:retrorsine
Cell transplantation; Epithelial stem/progenitor cells; FLSPC; Fetal liver stem/progenitor cells; Liver repopulation; Retrorsine; Thioacetamide induced fibrosis