Peribiliary Glands Are Key in Regeneration of the Human Biliary Epithelium After Severe Bile Duct Injury.

ABSTRACT: Peribiliary glands (PBG) are a source of stem/progenitor cells organized in a cellular network encircling large bile ducts. Severe cholangiopathy with loss of luminal biliary epithelium has been proposed to activate PBG, resulting in cell proliferation and differentiation to restore biliary epithelial integrity. However, formal evidence for this concept in human livers is lacking. We therefore developed an ex vivo model using precision-cut slices of extrahepatic human bile ducts obtained from discarded donor livers, providing an intact anatomical organization of cell structures, to study spatiotemporal differentiation and migration of PBG cells after severe biliary injury. Postischemic bile duct slices were incubated in oxygenated culture medium for up to a week. At baseline, severe tissue

SUBMITTER: de Jong IEM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6594148 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature