When hepatocyte regeneration after a two-thirds partial hepatectomy (PH) in rats is blocked
by oral gavage of acetylaminofluorene, a proliferation of ductular cells ensues that results in
a profusion of neoductules radiating from each portal tract. To examine the possibility that
this population of newly emerging cells harbors cells capable of differentiating into
hepatocytes, we have looked in these cells for expression of functional markers of
hepatocyte commitment at both the RNA and protein levels. Expression of albumin and α …