Xiao Jia-Cheng, Jin Xiao-Long, Ruck Peter, Adam Anne, Kaiserling Edwin
Department of Pathology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai 2nd Medical University, Shanghai 200025, China.
World J Gastroenterol. 2004 Apr 15;10(8):1208-11. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i8.1208.
To investigate whether hepatic progenitor cells (HPC), that reveal the features of oval cells in rodents and small epithelial cells (SEC) in certain human liver disease, were also found in human liver cirrhosis (HLC).
Surgical liver specimens from 20 cases of hepatitis B virus-positive HLC (15 cases containing hepatocellular carcinoma) were investigated by light microscopic immunohistochemistry (LM-IHC). Among them specimens from 15 cases were investigated by electron microscopy (EM) and those from 5 cases by immunofluorencence confocal laser scanning microscopy (ICLSM). Antibodies against cytokeratin 7 and albumin were used and single and/or double labelling were performed respectively.
LM-IHC showed that at the margins of regenerating nodules and in the fibrous septae, a small number of cells in the proliferating bile ductules were positive for CK7 and albumin. At the EM level these HPC were morphologically similar to the SEC described previously, and also similar to the oval cells seen in experimental hepatocarcinogenesis. They were characterized by their small size, oval shape, a high nucleus/cytoplasm ratio, a low organelle content in cytoplasm, and existence of tonofilaments and intercellular junctions. ICLSM revealed that HPC expressed both cytokeratin 7 and albumin.
HPC with ultrastructural and immunophenotypical features of oval cells, i.e., hepatic stem cell-like cells as noted in other liver diseases, were found in HLC. These findings further support the hypothesis that bipotent hepatic stem cells, that may give rise to biliary epithelial cells and hepatocytes, exist in human livers.
研究在人类肝硬化（HLC）中是否也能发现具有啮齿动物卵圆细胞特征以及某些人类肝脏疾病中小上皮细胞（SEC）特征的肝祖细胞（HPC）。
采用光镜免疫组织化学（LM - IHC）对20例乙肝病毒阳性的HLC手术肝脏标本（其中15例包含肝细胞癌）进行研究。其中15例标本采用电子显微镜（EM）检查，5例标本采用免疫荧光共聚焦激光扫描显微镜（ICLSM）检查。分别使用抗细胞角蛋白7和白蛋白的抗体进行单标记和/或双标记。
LM - IHC显示，在再生结节边缘和纤维间隔中，增殖性胆小管中的少数细胞对CK7和白蛋白呈阳性。在电子显微镜水平，这些HPC在形态上与先前描述的SEC相似，也与实验性肝癌发生中所见的卵圆细胞相似。它们的特征是体积小、椭圆形、核质比高、细胞质中细胞器含量低，以及存在张力丝和细胞间连接。ICLSM显示HPC同时表达细胞角蛋白7和白蛋白。
在HLC中发现了具有卵圆细胞超微结构和免疫表型特征的HPC，即其他肝脏疾病中所提到的肝干细胞样细胞。这些发现进一步支持了人类肝脏中存在可产生胆管上皮细胞和肝细胞的双能肝干细胞这一假说。
