The relationship between bile duct damage and portal fibrosis in chronic liver diseases
remains unclear. This study was designed to show whether human intrahepatic biliary
epithelial cells can undergo epithelial–mesenchymal cell transition, thereby directly
contributing to fibrogenesis. Primary human cholangiocytes were stimulated with
transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) or TGFβ-presenting T cells and examined for evidence
of transition to a mesenchymal phenotype. Liver sections were labelled to detect antigens …