Serendipitously, putting liver stem cells on a circular-shaped surface resulted in a beautiful pattern of green biliary cells and red hepatocytes. To make the happy coincidence even merrier they started dancing in a spiral-like in this image when treated with the growth factor TGFb2. Using concise microcontact printing and various growth factor treatments, I study the complex patterning and sometimes dancing of liver stem cells. Liver stem cells can differentiate either into hepatocytes (like the red cells here), the major cell type in the liver, or bile duct forming cells (like the green cells). How this bifurcation of cell fate happens in response to cellular mechanics and soluble factor is the main focus of my research. This simple yet complex enough phenomenon of patterning on a circular surface revealed useful insights into the whole process. Here, in response to the growth factor TGFb, the cells on the periphery not only express the green biliary marker OPN, but change their morphology to elongated cells, and start rotating on the edges possibly signifying the beginning of duct formation.
