Today's hepatic stellate cells: Not your father's sternzellen
✍ Scribed by Erick P. Chan; Rebecca G. Wells
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2007
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 61 KB
- Volume
- 45
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0270-9139
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✦ Synopsis
Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) play an important role in the development of liver fibrosis. Here, we report that HSC express the stem/progenitor cell marker CD133 and exhibit properties of progenitor cells. CD133؉ HSC of rats were selected by specific antibodies and magnetic cell sorting. Selected cells displayed typical markers of HSC, endothelial progenitor cells (EPC), and monocytes. In cell culture, CD133؉ HSC transformed into alphasmooth muscle actin positive myofibroblast-like cells, whereas application of cytokines known to facilitate EPC differentiation into endothelial cells led to the formation of branched tube-like structures and induced expression of the endothelial cell markers endothelial nitric oxide synthase and vascular-endothelial cadherin. Moreover, cytokines that guide stem cells to develop hepatocytes led to the appearance of rotund cells and expression of the hepatocyte markers alpha-fetoprotein and albumin. It is concluded that CD133؉ HSC are a not yet recognized progenitor cell compartment with characteristics of early EPC. Their potential to differentiate into endothelial or hepatocyte lineages suggests important functions of CD133؉ HSC during liver regeneration.