A human liver cell atlas reveals heterogeneity and epithelial progenitors.

ABSTRACT: The human liver is an essential multifunctional organ. The incidence of liver diseases is rising and there are limited treatment options. However, the cellular composition of the liver remains poorly understood. Here we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of about 10,000 cells from normal liver tissue from nine human donors to construct a human liver cell atlas. Our analysis identified previously unknown subtypes of endothelial cells, Kupffer cells, and hepatocytes, with transcriptome-wide zonation of some of these populations. We show that the EPCAM⁺ population is heterogeneous, comprising hepatocyte-biased and cholangiocyte populations as well as a TROP2^int progenitor population with strong potential to form bipotent liver organoids. As a proof-of-principle, we use

SUBMITTER: Aizarani N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6687507 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature