Liver transplantation of hepatic stem cells: potential use for treating liver diseases

Hepatic stem cells are an alternative means for repopulating the liver after various injuries instead of liver transplantation. The first step before use is to select stem cells that will be good candidates. This review discusses the different candidates including fetal progenitor bipotential hepatic stem cells; adult hepatocytes, which can be considered as unipotential committed stem cells; and oval cells, a type of nonparenchymal pluripotential hepatic stem cell. The advantages and disadvantages of each type of cell are discussed and several other possible alternatives, such as the use of hematopoietic stem cells are analyzed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.