Cited by 287Liver physiology and pathologyMesenchymal stem cell researchHematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Potential hepatic stem cells reside in EpCAM+ cells of normal and injured mouse liver

Okabe, Mayuko, Tsukahara, Yuko, Tanaka, Minoru, Suzuki, Kaori, Saito, Shigeru, Kamiya, Yoshiko, Tsujimura, Tohru, Nakamura, Koji +1 more·2009·Development

Abstract

Hepatic oval cells are considered to be facultative hepatic stem cells(HSCs) that differentiate into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes in severely injured liver. Hepatic oval cells have also been implicated in tumorigenesis. However, their nature and origin remain elusive. To isolate and characterize mouse oval cells, we searched for cell surface molecules expressed on oval cells and analyzed their nature at the single-cell level by flow cytometric analysis and in the in vitro colony formation assay. We demonstrate that epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is expressed in both mouse normal cholangiocytes and oval cells, whereas its related protein, TROP2, is expressed exclusively in oval cells, establishing TROP2 as a novel marker to distinguish oval cells from normal cholangiocytes. EpCAM+ cells isolated from injured liver proliferate to form colonies in vitro, and the clonally expanded cells differentiate into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes,suggesting that the oval cell fraction contains potential HSCs. Interestingly,such cells with HSC characteristics exist among EpCAM+ cells of normal liver. Intriguingly, comparison of the colony formation of EpCAM+ cells in normal and injured liver reveals little difference in the number of potential HSCs, strongly suggesting that most proliferating mouse oval cells represent transit-amplifying cells rather than HSCs.

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Crossref · 10.1242/dev.031369

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  • Earlier FACS-based isolations of putative HPCs relied on a single selection marker or failed to fully exclude other non-parenchymal cell populations.

    “Although previous studies have isolated putative HPCs using FACS isolation, these techniques are based on single selection markers37,8 or did not completely exclude other NPC populations37,52.”

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Authors
Okabe, M., Tsukahara, Y., Tanaka, M., Suzuki, K., Saito, S., Kamiya, Y., Tsujimura, T., Nakamura, K., & Miyajima, A.
Affiliations
  • The University of Tokyo (JP)
  • Hyogo Medical University (JP)
  • LivTech, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 216-0001, Japan.
Corresponding author
Tanaka, Minoru
Venue
Development
Published
2009-06-01
Volume
136
Issue
11
Pages
1951-1960
ISSN
  • 0950-1991 (ISSN-L)
  • 1477-9129
OpenAlex
W2122114596
Cited by
287
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 19
FWCI
12.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Development (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver physiology and pathology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Genetics › Mesenchymal stem cell research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Keywords
hepatic stem cells, hepatic oval cells, EpCAM, TROP2, cholangiocytes, liver injury, hepatocyte differentiation, cholangiocyte differentiation, transit amplifying cells, cell surface markers, colony formation, mouse liver
MeSH terms
Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule, Animals, Antigens, Differentiation, Antigens, Neoplasm, Cell Differentiation, Cells, Cultured, Liver, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Proteins, Stem Cells, Cell Adhesion Molecules, Hepatocytes, Mice

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