Adult-derived human liver stem/progenitor cells infused 3 days post-surgery improve liver regeneration in a mouse model of extended hepatectomy.

There is growing evidence that cell therapy constitutes a promising strategy for liver regenerative medicine. In the setting of hepatic cancer treatments, cell therapy could prove a useful therapeutic approach for managing the acute liver failure that occurs following extended hepatectomy. In this study, we examined the influence of delivering adult human liver mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (ADHLSCs) at two different early time points in an immunodeficient mouse model (Rag(2-/-)IL2Rγ(-/-) ) that had undergone a 70%-hepatectomy procedure. The hepato-mesenchymal cells were intrasplenically infused either immediately after surgery (n= 26) or following a critical 3-day period (n=26). We evaluated the cells' capacity to engraft at Day 1 and Day 7 following transplantation by means of human Alu qPCR quantification, along with histological assessment of human albumin and alpha-smooth muscle actin. In addition, cell proliferation (anti-mouse and human Ki67 staining) and murine liver weight were measured in order to evaluate liver regeneration. At Day 1 post-transplantation, the ratio of human to mouse cells was similar in both groups, whereas 1 week post-transplantation, this ratio was significantly improved (p