Stem cells and rat liver carcinogenesis: contributions of confocal and electron microscopy

Microscopic analysis in combination with cytochemistry and immunocytochemistry has revealed the presence of four cell types not previously described in the portal area and parenchyma of the liver from an experimental rodent hepatocarcinogenic rat model. Within the intrahepatic bile ductules, which proliferate after administration of chemical carcinogens and partial hepatectomy, small, undifferentiated nonpolarized, nonepithelial cells with a blast-like phenotype and polarized epithelial cells different from the polarized epithelial cells that typically line the walls of the bile ductules were found. In the connective tissue stroma surrounding the bile ductules, nonpolarized epithelial cells with hepatocyte phenotype were found. In the parenchyma, subpopulations of bile ductule epithelial cells that established ATPase-positive bile canalicular structures, including the formation of desmosomes and tight junctions, with parenchymal hepatocytes within the hepatic lobule were found. These observations raise the following questions in this model. Are there undifferentiated progenitor cells with stem cell-like properties within bile ductules? What are the interrelations of the newly described cell types with each other, with parenchymal hepatocytes, with preneoplastic nodules, and with hepatomas? Do the heterogeneous cell types within the bile ductules, in the surrounding connective tissue, and within the hepatic cords represent intermediate stages of single or multiple cell lineage pathways leading to hepatocyte differentiation, liver regeneration, and/or preneoplastic nodule formation?