Equal opportunity offer for all hepatocytes

It is widely accepted that homeostasis of the hepatocyte mass is maintained by division of mature hepatocytes with little or no contribution by cells with stem/progenitor phenotypes. However, in recent years several groups found evidence that normal tissue regeneration originates from subsets of mature hepatocytes with distinct stem-like features and distinct locations in the liver. Three papers1 –3 in a recent issue of Cell Stem Cell now challenge the concept of “specialized” regenerative hepatocytes and indicate randomly positioned hepatocytes as the cellular source of liver regeneration, using various lineage-tracing mouse models.
Source: Journal of Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research