Analyses of cell fate determination in fetal hepatoblast

胎儿成肝细胞分化为肝细胞和胆管细胞。调节这种谱系定型的精确分子机制仍然未知。Sall 4已被证明是ES细胞中胚胎发生、器官发生、多能性维持和早期胚胎细胞命运决定的调节因子之一。我们在这里提供了他们的第一个描述在肝母细胞。Sall4在调节肝母细胞的谱系分割中起关键作用，不仅抑制其分化为肝细胞，而且还驱动其向胆管细胞分化。

Fetal hepatoblasts differentiate into both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. The precise molecular mechanisms regulating this lineage commitment remain unknown. Sall4 has been shown to be among the regulators of embryogenesis, organogenesis, maintenance of pluripotency, and early embryonic cell fate determinations in ES cells. We here provide their first description in hepatoblasts. Sall4 plays a key role in regulating the lineage segmentation of hepatoblasts, not only inhibiting their differentiation into hepatocytes, but also driving their differentiation toward cholangiocytes.