EpCam-specific Gold Nanoparticles for Detection, Live-imaging and Rapid Enrichment of Adult Human Liver Progenitor Cells

Hepatic stem cells and Hepatoblasts are the only two cell types known in the liver to express Epithelial Cell Adhesion molecule (EpCAM). We wish to exploit the specificity of this cell marker to: investigate how EpCAM-positive cells proliferate and emerge particularly in the first stages of tissue culture of primary human liver cell isolates observe how these immature cells are affected by other liver cell types in culture enrich and isolate liver progenitors from patient specific samples employing a fast sorting method as a replacement for our current „plate-and-wait“ method. Laser-generated gold nanoparticles…