Liver Cell Biology

In general, research projects at LIVR aim to better characterize the different liver cell types in healthy and pathological conditions, and to gain a better insight in the mechanisms of liver regeneration and the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis.

The LIVR team investigates:

• the mechanisms of liver fibrosis development and resolution
• the identification of hepatic stellate cell-specific biomarkers for liver fibrosis staging
• the generation of in vitro liver disease models
• iPSC derived liver cells for in vitro disease modeling
• the role for liver progenitor cells during liver regeneration

Long term objectives are:

• Contribute to the understanding of mechanisms involved in liver fibrosis
• Discover therapeutic targets for chronic liver diseases including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
• Develop in vitro models representative for human chronic liver disease

The LIVR laboratory offers Flow Cytometry Service, using a BD FACSAria cell sorter (2006, first generation, upgraded to FacsAria IIu in 2014). The system has 3 lasers for excitation: UV-laser (355nm), Blue laser (488nm) and Red laser (633nm) and 11 fluorescence detectors. We offer support for the experimental setup, operation of the system and analysis of data using FlowJo software.