The liver plays essential roles in human and animal organisms, such as the storage, release, metabolism, and elimination of various endogenous or exogenous substances. Although its vital importance, few treatments are yet available when a hepatic failure occurs, and hence, the use of stem cells has arisen as a possible solution for both human and veterinary medicines. Previous studies have shown the existence of hepatic progenitor cells in human fetuses that were positive for EpCAM and NCAM. There is limited evidence, however, further identification and characterization of these cells in other species. Considering the similarity between dogs and humans regarding physiology, and also the increasing importance of developing new treatments for both veterinary and translational medicine, this study attempted to identify hepatic progenitor cells in canine fetal liver. For that, livers from canine fetuses were collected, cells were isolated by enzymatic digestion and cultured. Cells were characterized regarding morphology and expression of EpCAM, NCAM, Nestin, and Thy-1/CD90 markers. Our results suggest that it is possible to identify hepatic progenitor cells in the canine fetal liver; however, for therapeutic use, further techniques for cellular isolation and culture are necessary to obtain enriched populations of hepatic progenitors from the canine fetal liver.

肝脏在人类和动物有机体中起着至关重要的作用，例如各种内源性或外源性物质的储存，释放，代谢和消除。尽管其至关重要，但当发生肝功能衰竭时，尚无可用的治疗方法，因此，干细胞的使用已成为人用和兽用药物的可能解决方案。先前的研究表明，人类胎儿中存在肝祖细胞，它们对EpCAM和NCAM呈阳性。但是，仅有有限的证据进一步鉴定和表征了其他物种中的这些细胞。考虑到狗和人之间在生理方面的相似性，以及开发兽药和转化医学新疗法的重要性日益增加，这项研究试图鉴定犬胎肝中的肝祖细胞。为此，收集来自犬胎儿的肝脏，通过酶消化分离细胞并进行培养。对细胞进行形态学和EpCAM，NCAM，Nestin和Thy-1 / CD90标记表达的表征。我们的结果表明，可以在犬胎肝中鉴定出肝祖细胞。然而，对于治疗用途，需要进一步的细胞分离和培养技术以从犬胎肝中获得富集的肝祖细胞。我们的结果表明，可以在犬胎肝中鉴定出肝祖细胞。然而，对于治疗用途，需要进一步的细胞分离和培养技术以从犬胎肝中获得富集的肝祖细胞。我们的结果表明，可以在犬胎肝中鉴定出肝祖细胞。然而，对于治疗用途，需要进一步的细胞分离和培养技术以从犬胎肝中获得富集的肝祖细胞。