Liver regeneration following injury can involve the de-differentiation of biliary epithelial cells into bipotent progenitor cells (BPPCs), which are able to re-differentiate into new hepatocytes. In their work, Jieqiong Zhao, Pengcheng Cai, Jianlong Ma and colleagues demonstrate the role of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) signalling between BPPCs and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to promote re-differentiation, providing new insight into biliary-mediated liver regeneration. To learn more about their work, we spoke to the first authors, Jieqiong Zhao and Pengcheng Cai, and the corresponding author, Jianlong Ma, Professor at the School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
A 2026 study studied this question.