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RandomFactor writes:

Researchers at King's College London have identified a new type of cell that can grow into the two main cell types in adult livers.

[...] new type of cell called a hepatobiliary hybrid progenitor (HHyP), [...] forms during our early development in the womb. Surprisingly, HHyP also persist in small quantities in adults and these cells can grow into the two main cell types of the adult liver (Hepatocytes and Cholangiocytes) giving HHyPs stem cell like properties.

According to lead author on the paper Dr. Tamir Rashid from the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine

For the first time, we have found that cells with true stem cell-like properties may well exist in the human liver. This, in turn, could provide a wide range of regenerative medicine applications for treating liver disease, including the possibility of bypassing the need for liver transplants.

Per Dr Rashid, possible next steps are working to figure out how to convert pluripotent stem cells into HHyPs or seeing if HHyPs can be reprogrammed within the body to repair livers without cell or organ transplantation.

Journal Reference
Joe M Segal, et. al. Single cell analysis of human foetal liver captures the transcriptional profile of hepatobiliary hybrid progenitors. Nature Communications, 2019; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11266-x

Original Submission