Distinct EpCAM-Positive Stem Cell Niches Are Engaged in Chronic and Neoplastic Liver Diseases

Samira Safarikia; Guido Carpino; Diletta Overi; Vincenzo Cardinale; Rosanna Venere; Antonio Franchitto; Paolo Onori; Domenico Alvaro; Eugenio Gaudio

doi:10.3389/fmed.2020.00479

Distinct EpCAM-Positive Stem Cell Niches Are Engaged in Chronic and Neoplastic Liver Diseases

Front Med (Lausanne). 2020 Sep 2:7:479. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2020.00479. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Samira Safarikia¹, Guido Carpino², Diletta Overi³, Vincenzo Cardinale⁴, Rosanna Venere¹, Antonio Franchitto³, Paolo Onori³, Domenico Alvaro¹, Eugenio Gaudio³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Precision and Translational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
² Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Division of Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico," Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Latina, Italy.

Abstract

In normal human livers, EpCAM^pos cells are mostly restricted in two distinct niches, which are (i) the bile ductules and (ii) the mucous glands present inside the wall of large intrahepatic bile ducts (the so-called peribiliary glands). These EpCAM^pos cell niches have been proven to harbor stem/progenitor cells with great importance in liver and biliary tree regeneration and in the pathophysiology of human diseases. The EpCAM^pos progenitor cells within bile ductules are engaged in driving regenerative processes in chronic diseases affecting hepatocytes or interlobular bile ducts. The EpCAM^pos population within peribiliary glands is activated when regenerative needs are finalized to repair large intra- or extra-hepatic bile ducts affected by chronic pathologies, including primary sclerosing cholangitis and ischemia-induced cholangiopathies after orthotopic liver transplantation. Finally, the presence of distinct EpCAM^pos cell populations may explain the histological and molecular heterogeneity characterizing cholangiocarcinoma, based on the concept of multiple candidate cells of origin. This review aimed to describe the precise anatomical distribution of EpCAM^pos populations within the liver and the biliary tree and to discuss their contribution in the pathophysiology of human liver diseases, as well as their potential role in regenerative medicine of the liver.

Keywords: biliary tree; cholangiocarcinoma; cholangiopathy; liver; progenitor cells.

Publication types

Review