Liver stem cells: Plasticity of the liver epithelium

Figure 3 Schematic showing the importance of understanding tissue repair and stem cell biology, and their contributions to developing future therapies to promote liver regeneration. Studies focusing on understanding the mechanisms of tissue repair have suggested that cell populations with high cellular plasticity include both cells of the biliary tree and hepatocytes. The fields of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine have used signals and key factors required during embryonic development to produce hepatocyte-like cells derived from either adult or embryonic sources. In conjunction, these will advance the liver regeneration field.