Liver: Cell Types Composing the Tissue

There are five types of cells that reside in the liver tissue:

  • Hepatoctytes
  • Hepatic oval cells
  • Kupffer cells
  • Sinusoidal endothelial cells
  • Hepatic stellate cells

These cells possess specialized structures to efficiently carry out the complex mechanisms and processes that are taking place in the liver, the biggest factory of the body. Each of these cell types is discussed in more detail in the following description.

Hepatocytes

Hepatocytes are liver epithelial cells. They are the mature parenchymal cells and make up the major bulk of the tissue (i.e., 60–80%). Hepatocytes perform the major processes occurring in the liver. Liver processes are distributed among the hepatocytes, meaning that each hepatocyte does not perform all the functions, but rather hepatocytes are specialized and work on the principle of “divide and conquer”; a group of hepatocytes excels ...

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