Clonal expansion of hepatic stem/progenitor cells following flow cytometric cell sorting

Although hepatic stem cells are believed to exist and play a critical role in developing and regenerating liver, little is known about their cell surf ace specificity or differentiation capabilities. To make prospective studie s of hepatic stem cells possible, we established an in vitro culture system for identification and characterization of hepatic stem/progenitor cells. By combining this culture system with fluorescence activated cell sorting ( FACS), a population of cells that were capable of forming large colonies an d providing their descendants for relative longer period was isolated from fetal mouse livers. These data suggest that hepatic stem/progenitor cells w ith high proliferative potential are existent in the developing mouse liver , and that they are enriched by using flow cytometry.