Converting Bone Marrow Stem Cells into Liver Cells

Purified bone marrow stem cells from a male mouse are grown near injured liver from a female mouse, but separated by a fine filter.

After 8 hours, some cells are making liver proteins, marked with green. And after 48 hours, more are differentiating into liver cells.

Green and red show liver-specific proteins.

So bone marrow stem cells can develop into liver like cells in a dish—what about in a live animal?

100,000 purified bone marrow stem cells from a male mouse are transplanted into a female mouse with a injured liver.

Several weeks later, the liver from the female recipient mouse is examined for the presence of male liver cells—cells containing a X and Y chromosomes.

X chromosomes are pink and Y chromosomes are green. The two arrows point to male cells in this female mouse liver.

For more details, please see:

Hematopoietic stem cells convert into liver cells within days without fusion.Jang YY, Collector MI, Baylin SB, Diehl AM, Sharkis SJ.Nat Cell Biol. 2004 Jun;6(6):532-9.