The epithelial to mesenchymal transition has recently been implicated as a source of
fibrogenic myofibroblasts in organ fibrosis, particularly in the kidney. There is as yet minimal
evidence for the epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the liver. We hypothesized that this
process in biliary epithelial cells plays an important role in biliary fibrosis and might be found
in patients with especially rapid forms, such as is seen in biliary atresia. We therefore
obtained liver tissue from patients with biliary atresia as well as a variety of other pediatric …