The fate of normal hepatocytes in adult rat liver was studied after genetic labeling using the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene coupled to a nuclear localization signal. The marker gene was introduced by direct in vivo retroviral-mediated gene transfer into hepatocytes 24 hours after partial hepatectomy. Analysis of beta-galactosidase expression in the liver at various time after gene transfer revealed that labeled hepatocytes were distributed throughout the entire lobule with a predominance in the periportal and mediolobular regions. Long-term experiments demonstrated that division of hepatocytes did occur as was revealed by the increasing number of beta-galactosidase-positive cells in isolated clusters. There was no evidence for the participation of stem cells in this process. Moreover, we found that after more than 1 year, the pattern of distribution of positive cells within the lobule was not modified. This suggests that hepatocytes do not migrate from the portal space to the perivenous region, as has been previously hypothesized.