The hepatic, biliary, and pancreatic network of stem/progenitor cell niches in humans: A new reference frame for disease and regeneration
Giacomo Lanzoni, Vincenzo Cardinale, Guido Carpino – 2 November 2015 – Stem/progenitors for liver, biliary tree, and pancreas exist at early stages of development in the definitive ventral endoderm forming the foregut. In humans, they persist postnatally as part of a network, with evidence supporting their contributions to hepatic and pancreatic organogenesis throughout life. Multiple stem cell niches persist in specific anatomical locations within the human biliary tree and pancreatic ducts.