Purification of Fetal Mouse Hepatoblasts by Magnetic Beads Coated with Monoclonal Anti-E-Cadherin Antibodies and Their In Vitro Culture

Isolation and characterization of liver epithelial progenitor cells from normal adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

“…Almost all of the polygonal epithelial cells in different colonies were positive for E-cad ( Figure 1B-i), a marker of HPCs [7,8]. More importantly, the cells were cultured for at least 20 passages without change of expression profiles and cell morphology (data not shown).…”

Generation and Analysis of Genetically Defined Liver Carcinomas Derived from Bipotential Liver Progenitors

“…Liver cell suspensions from fetal livers of ED12.5-15 C57BL/6 mice (Jackson Laboratories, Rochester, New York), were prepared as described previously (Nitou et al 2002). Purification of E-Cadherin-positive hepatoblasts from liver suspensions was performed using the MACS ® magnetic cell-sorting system (Miltenyi, Auburn, California) in the indirect labeling option together with the rat anti-mouse E-Cadherin (ECCD-1) antibody (Calbiochem, San Diego, California).…”

“…For external GFP-tumor imaging, mice were anesthetized with isolflurane, abdominal fur was removed with depilating cream, and animals were monitored by whole-body fluorescence imaging for the retrovirally expressed GFP reporter as described previously (Schmitt et al 2002a). All procedures were perrecognizing the extracellular epitopes of E-Cadherin molecules in combination with immunomagnetic beads (Nitou et al 2002) to a purity of about 98%. These hepatoblasts were capable of spontaneously differentiating into hepatocytes when cocultured with the nonparenchymal fraction of the embryonic liver (Nitou et al 2002).…”

Embryonic development of the liver

“…2 In addition, there is mounting evidence to support the proposal that some nonparenchymal cells have a direct impact on the development of hepatocytes. [3][4][5] For example, hepatoblasts purified from fetal mouse liver have been shown to require nonparenchymal cells for proliferation and expression of hepatocyte messenger RNA (mRNA). 4 To understand how the liver is generated during embryogenesis, it is first necessary to define the lineage relationships and the morphogenic movements of the cells that contribute to the liver's function.…”

“…[3][4][5] For example, hepatoblasts purified from fetal mouse liver have been shown to require nonparenchymal cells for proliferation and expression of hepatocyte messenger RNA (mRNA). 4 To understand how the liver is generated during embryogenesis, it is first necessary to define the lineage relationships and the morphogenic movements of the cells that contribute to the liver's function. Several decades of work in numerous vertebrate model systems have firmly established that hepatocytes and bile duct cells originate from a common precursor, the hepatoblast, that derives from the definitive endoderm (Fig.…”