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Gallbladder identified as potential source of stem cells for liver regeneration

Gallbladder tissues were determined to be a potential source for regenerative treatment of liver disease and diabetes, according to results presented Friday at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Researchers found that normal and pathological gallbladders, obtained from organ donors and surgical interventions, contained easily isolable cells with both the phenotype and biological properties of biliary tree stem/progenitor cells. Earlier research has identified biliary tree stem/progenitor cells (BTSCs) in the glands of normal human extrahepatic bile ducts.

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM+) cells were immunoselected by researchers and then placed in Kubota’s medium for self-replication and successful transfer into differentiation media.

The surface epithelium in normal and pathological gallbladders contained cells with the phenotype of BTSCs. Tissue digestion resulted in isolation of 15±3.7 million viable cells from five normal gallbladders and 13.3±3.6 million viable cells from five pathological gallbladders. After being transferred for differentiation, (EpCAM+) cells differentiated into cords of albumin-secreting hepatocytes, branching ducts of secretin receptor+cholangiocytes or functional pancreatic islets.

"Gallbladders are commonly discarded after surgical procedures and during orthotopic liver transplantation," Guido Carpino, MD, PhD, in experimental and clinical hepatology at Sapienza University of Rome told Healio.com. "Our results indicated that gallbladders could have an important role in regenerative medicine."

For more information:

Carpino G. Abstract # 49. Presented at: The International Liver Congress, April 18-22, Barcelona, Spain