Résumé
Non parenchymal epithelial cells (NPEC) isolated from adult human liver differentiate ill vitro in hepatocyte-like cells. Transplantation of NPEC into NOD/SCID mice resulted in the presence of human albumin ill serum and liver, and immunohistochemical liver assays revealed hepatocytes positive for human albumin and human nucleus. NPEC-derived hepatocytes were permissive to hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome replication. Human embryonic stern cells (hESC, HuES-l cell line) were submitted to experimental protocols mimicking fetal liver development. Three weeks later, some of the cells were diploid, and exhibited a number of hepatocyte phenotypic markers assessed by RT-PCR, immunoblot and immunofluorescence analysis. In conclusion, hepatocyte-like cells can be derived from the in vitro differentiation of NPEC and hESC.