Isolation of Bipotential Liver Progenitor Cells from Neonatal Mouse Liver

Abstract

Liver stem/progenitor cells (LPCs) are defined as bipotential cells differentiating into both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. The Notch, TGFβ, and Hippo pathways have been implicated in lineage determination of LPCs during development and regeneration. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the lineage specification have not been fully elucidated, yet. Epithelial adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a marker of cholangiocytes and of LPCs. We found that EpCAM+ cells isolated from neonatal liver contain LPCs that clonally proliferate and are bipotential in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, EpCAM+ progenies keep the capacity of bidirectional differentiation even after long-term culture. These cells are useful to investigate the molecular mechanisms regulating lineage commitment and epithelial differentiation of LPCs.