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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Apr 22.
Published in final edited form as: J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012 Mar;27(Suppl 2):65–68. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2011.07002.x

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Analysis of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). (a) It is proposed that in EMT the myofibroblasts in liver fibrosis originate from hepatic epithelial cells, consisting of hepatocytes (albumin+ [Alb+] cells), cholangiocytes (cytokeratin-19+ [K19+] cells), or progenitor cells (AFP+ cells). (b) Determining the origin of myofibroblasts using cell fate mapping. If a cell expressed α-fetoprotein (AFP), it will be irreversibly genetically labeled. AFP-driven Cre labeled epithelial progenitor cells, cholangiocytes, and hepatocytes, but failed to label any hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) or myofibroblasts. YFP, yellow fluorescent protein.41