Fig. 1

Liver progenitor cell compartment analysis at baseline and 4 weeks in controls (CTL) and stem cell treated (SCT) patients. Total liver progenitor cells were identified by keratin 7 (K7) staining (pink) and proliferative cells were quantified by Ki67 staining (brown) (a). Double K7/Ki67-positive cells were manually counted (b) with the distinction of cells from the ductular reaction (DR), intermediate progenitor cells (iPC), or intermediate hepatocyte-like cells (IH) and K7-negative Ki67-positive cells with a hepatocyte morphology classified as proliferative hepatocytes (Hep) (d). Morphometric quantification of the area occupied by K7-positive cells is also presented (c). All data are shown as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05 between groups