Figure 5.

 In vivo fate of human hepatic progenitor cells. (A) Staining of sham transplanted mouse liver with the antihuman albumin antibody (red). Differentiation of (B) freshly isolated CD117+/CD34+/Lin−, (C) sixth, and (D) 12th passage human hepatic progenitors cells into mature hepatocytes. The transplanted human cells double stained for albumin (red) and human nuclei (diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride-nickel, black (arrowheads)). All sections were counterstained with haematoxylin to distinguish mouse cells (blue) from human cells (brown/black). Magnification 60×. (E) Transcription of human liver specific genes in the mouse liver. Human cytokeratin 19 (CK19), α-fetoprotein, and albumin were detected in the livers of d-galactosamine treated mice that received human hepatic progenitor cells but not in sham transplanted mice. However, α₁ antitrypsin was also slightly amplified in controls. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) was used as the housekeeping gene.