Maintaining hepatic stem cell gene expression on biological and synthetic substrata

The liver is a highly resilient organ that possesses enormous regenerative capacity. This is mediated mainly through the most abundant cell type found in the liver, the hepatocyte. When the regenerative capacity of the hepatocyte is compromised, during chronic or acute liver injury, hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) are activated to replace the damaged tissue. The HPC resides in a laminin-rich environment; as HPCs differentiate toward a hepatic or biliary fate, the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition changes, influencing cell behavior. To assess the impact that the biological ECM and the synthetic ECM have on the maintenance of hepatic stem cell gene expression, a murine hepatic stem cell line was employed. We demonstrate that hepatic stem cell gene expression could be maintained using a biological or synthetic substratum, but not on plastic alone.