摘要
Dear Editor, Based on their ability to proliferate and the capacity to differentiate into specific cell types, hepatic progenitor/stem cells （HPCs） from adult human liver may have potential therapeutic effects on end-stage liver failure. In addition, adult HPCs have a reduced risk of teratoma for- mation and are not subject to the same ethical issues as fetal HPCs or embryonic stem cells . The HPCs from rhesus monkeys are relevant because they may serve as a valuable preclinical model for assessment of cell therapy in humans. To date, there are no reports of HPCs or liver epithelial progenitor cells （LEPCs） isolated from normal adult rhesus monkey although a few studies in other species were reported. We report here for the first time the successful isolation of rhesus monkey LEPCs （mLEPCs） from normal adult livers （n = 12）.
