Zhang Haojian, Miao Zhenchuan, He Zuping, Yang Yuxia, Wang Yun, Feng Meifu
State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, PR China.
Cell Biol Int. 2005 Mar;29(3):213-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cellbi.2004.12.007. Epub 2005 Apr 22.
The fetal liver is the major hematopoietic organ during mid-gestation, and it is also a source of stem cells that exist in a complex environment. In this study, we isolated a population of actively replicating cells with the characteristic of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) from fetal liver. These cells were identified with the epithelial markers, including alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), albumin (ALB), cytokeratins (CK) 7, and CK18, as well as the mesenchymal markers, such as alpha-smooth muscle actin (ASMA), CD29, CD44, CD49, CD54, collagen I and osteopontin (OPN). Furthermore, they also expressed some hematopoiesis-related genes. In addition, the cell population had the ability to retain hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in an undifferentiated state in vitro during cytokine-stimulated proliferation. These results provide an insight about early human liver development and may also help to understand hematopoiesis in the fetal liver.
胎儿肝脏是妊娠中期主要的造血器官，也是存在于复杂环境中的干细胞来源。在本研究中，我们从胎儿肝脏中分离出一群具有上皮-间质转化（EMT）特征的活跃复制细胞。这些细胞通过上皮标志物进行鉴定，包括甲胎蛋白（AFP）、白蛋白（ALB）、细胞角蛋白（CK）7和CK18，以及间充质标志物，如α-平滑肌肌动蛋白（ASMA）、CD29、CD44、CD49、CD54、胶原蛋白I和骨桥蛋白（OPN）。此外，它们还表达一些造血相关基因。另外，该细胞群体在细胞因子刺激增殖过程中，具有在体外将造血干细胞（HSCs）维持在未分化状态的能力。这些结果为早期人类肝脏发育提供了见解，也可能有助于理解胎儿肝脏中的造血作用。
