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LIVER AND BILIARY TRACT

Evidence for epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in adult liver cells

¹Division of Gastroenterology and Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Departments of ⁴Pathology, ⁵Cell Biology, and ⁶Pediatrics, Durham, North Carolina; ²Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; and ³Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Pathology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia

Submitted 3 March 2006 ; accepted in final form 3 May 2006

Both myofibroblastic hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and hepatic epithelial progenitors accumulate in damaged livers. In some injured organs, the ability to distinguish between fibroblastic and epithelial cells is sometimes difficult because cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMT). During EMT, cells coexpress epithelial and mesenchymal cell markers. To determine whether EMT occurs in adult liver cells, we analyzed the expression profile of primary HSC, two HSC lines, and hepatic epithelial progenitors. As expected, all HSC expressed HSC markers. Surprisingly, these markers were also expressed by epithelial progenitors. In addition, one HSC line expressed typical epithelial progenitor mRNAs, and these epithelial markers were inducible in the second HSC line. In normal and damaged livers, small ductular-type cells stained positive for an HSC marker. In conclusion, HSC and hepatic epithelial progenitors both coexpress epithelial and mesenchymal markers, providing evidence that EMT occurs in adult liver cells.

cirrhosis; oval cell; stellate cell

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