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Regenerative medicine

Hepatic progenitor cells up their game in the therapeutic stakes

Bipotential hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) are recognized as making modest contributions to hepatocyte regeneration, though never credited with major liver repopulation. A new study in mice demonstrates HPCs can make a massive contribution to hepatocyte replacement, suggesting HPCs have the potential to be an effective cell therapy for liver failure.

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Figure 1: HPCs and their role in liver repopulation.

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Correspondence to Malcolm R. Alison.

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Alison, M., Lin, WR. Hepatic progenitor cells up their game in the therapeutic stakes. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 12, 610–611 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2015.168

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