Mo’ TERT, mo’ liver cells

A Stanford University team has identified a population of liver cells responsible for hepatocyte regeneration during homeostasis and in response to liver injury, and molecular characterization of this cell population could reveal new targets for hepatic disease therapies.

While hepatocytes near hepatic and portal central veins are known to be capable of proliferation, the existence of a more broadly distributed source of new hepatocytes has been suggested, but never previously identified. ...