Characterization of quiescent adult liver stem cells and downstream lineages [Agilent Array]. Mus musculus

Understanding the liver stem cells (LSCs) holds great promise for new insights into liver diseases and liver regeneration. By employing single-cell RNA-seq technology with weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA), we examined transcriptome features of distinct Krt19 lineage-tracing cell types isolated from Krt19CreERT; Rosa26R-GFP reporter mice, and identified gene expression signatures of quiescent and active adult LSCs, as well as their downstream lineage-restricted progenitors and terminally differentiation hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Importantly, we discovered a novel cell surface LSC marker, CD63, as well as CD56, which distinguished active and quiescent LSCs. Furthermore, we confirmed that CD63+CD56- quiescent LSCs resided in Canals of Hering and peribiliary glands and that these cells could be activated by a combined action of VEGF and bFGF, and subsequently underwent terminal differentiation. These findings define an authentic adult liver stem cells compartment and highlight its contribution to liver homeostasis during pathophysiologic processes. Overall design: Examination of 6 cell-lines from adult mouse liver.