Fig. 5.

Induction of hepatic progenitor cells in progressively worsening cirrhosis. (a–c) As cirrhosis progressed, there was an associated increase in the percentage of cells expressing putative liver progenitor cell markers (a) CD44 and (b) Epcam in liver sections bar = 100 µm. **P ≤ 0.05. Hepatocytes isolated from control, early cirrhotic, and end-stage cirrhotic livers, which were used in transplantation studies, were similarly characterized for the presence of putative liver progenitor cells. (d–f) A nearly identical percentage of the cells isolated from cirrhotic livers expressed CD44 (d) and Epcam bar = 100 µm (e) in liver sections. These data indicate that the distribution of cell phenotypes derived from cirrhotic livers after isolation most likely represented that found in intact livers even though the cell yield after collagenase digestion was significantly lower than that obtained after digestion of control livers.