RESUMO
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatocyte progenitors have frequently been cultured from rodents but reports from human liver are rare. METHODS: Non-parenchymal cell fraction isolated from 19 explant livers (removed at orthotopic liver transplantation for acute or chronic liver disease) and histologically normal human liver was cultured. RESULTS: Proliferating epithelioid colonies were identifiable after 2-3 weeks culture as a very rare event (<1 per million cells plated) expressing mRNAs and protein antigens of mixed hepatocytic/biliary phenotype. Colony survival could be prolonged by transduction of the catalytic sub-unit of telomerase. Hepatocyte growth factor, epidermal growth factor and oncostatin M did not further enhance hepatocytic differentiation. The expression of markers associated with hepatocyte precursor status was investigated by flow cytometry. Cells expressing the stem cell-associated markers CD133 and CD117 were identified at low frequency. The proportion of cells expressing the integrin CD49f was higher in diseased liver than in normal liver, but the proportion expressing the hepatocyte growth factor receptor c-met was lower. Successful enrichment of plated populations for progenitors was not achieved. CONCLUSION: Although there is clear histological evidence of hepatocyte precursors in human explant livers, predictable culture of such cells with differentiation toward mature hepatocyte phenotype remains elusive.