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Updated: May 26, 2026

Isolation of CD133+ Liver Stem Cells for Clonal Expansion
Published on: October 10, 2011
Identification and isolation of adult liver stem/progenitor cells
Minoru Tanaka1, Atsushi Miyajima
1Laboratory of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. tanaka@iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
Hepatoblasts are considered to be liver stem/progenitor cells in the fetus because they propagate and differentiate into two types of liver epithelial cells, hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. In adults, oval cells that emerge in severely injured liver are considered facultative hepatic stem/progenitor cells. However, the nature of oval cells has remained unclear for long time due to the lack of a method to isolate them. It has also been unclear whether liver stem/progenitor cells exist in normal adult liver. Recently, we and others have successfully identified oval cells and adult liver stem/progenitor cells. Here, we describe the identification and isolation of mouse liver stem/progenitor cells by utilizing antibodies against specific cell surface marker molecules.
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