Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) peptide promotes the expansion of hepatic stem/progenitor cells via ERK and STAT3-dependent signaling.

ABSTRACT: Hepatic stem/progenitor cells (HPC) have been considered as a potential cell source of an alternative to liver transplantation. Production of large numbers of autologous HPC from small pieces of live tissue is crucial for the application of HPC-based liver therapy. In this study, we demonstrated that a synthetic 44-amino acid peptide (44-mer) derived from pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) can facilitate the production of a large number of actively dividing HPC from normal adult rat livers in a 35-day culture period. The phenotypic properties of HPC were characterized by morphological observation, colony formation and high expression of classical HPC markers including epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) and tum

SUBMITTER: Shih SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5376003 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature