Figure 2.

 Proliferation of hepatic progenitors and their progeny. (A) Culture medium containing hepatocyte growth factor, epidermal growth factor, and basic fibroblast growth factor, when further supplemented with 20% conditioned medium (CM), significantly increased the proliferation of hepatic progenitor cells and could be passaged several times compared to without CM (n = 10; p<0.001, Student’s t test). (B) Flow cytometric analysis revealed that high proliferation (BrdU+ cells) was observed in albumin+(ALB) cytokeratin (CK)19+, ALB+CK19−, and ALB−CK19+ cells, while double negative (ALB−CK19−) cells were more quiescent. (C) Liver progenitor cells in various passages, fluorescence stained for albumin (green) and CK19 (red) and enzymatically (diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride-nickel, black) for detection of BrdU incorporation, showing proliferative capacity in the various subpopulations. Magnification 40×.