Flow cytometry and monoclonal antibodies identify normal liver cell populations antigenically related to oval cells

Oval cells, a non-parenchymal cell population induced to rapidly proliferate in animals treated with carcinogens, are thought to be related to the hypothesized liver stem cells. In normal liver there are poorly defined cells antigenically related to oval cells. These oval cell antigen positive (OCAP) cells present in normal animals are thought to include hepatocyte and bile duct cell precursors. To isolate them, we modified the existing protocols designed for oval cells and used it on normal neonatal rat livers. Using flow cytometry, the percentage of normal liver OCAP-cells varied with the monoclonal antibody (MoAb) to the different oval cell membrane markers used: 12% (MoAb 18.2), 23% (MoAb 270.38), 27% (MoAb 18.11), 31% (MoAb 18.13), and 37% (MoAb 374.3). Macrophages consisted 10% of the cells (MoAb MCA 275); hepatocytes were essentially absent ( < 1%, MoAb 236.4). Our results demonstrate that is possible to obtain significant numbers of normal cells antigenically related to oval cells and that using different MoAbs, different cell populations can be sorted for use in experimental studies testing liver progenitor cell hypothesis.