BACKGROUND:Hepatoblasts are one of high-grade cell sources for severe liver disease treatment.Efficient separation and purification of hepatoblasts from fetal liver has important practical significances.OBJECTIVE:To introduce the preparation of hepatoblasts from fetal liver,conduct a transversal comparison of these preparation methods,and point out their advantages and shortcomings,so as to provide the evidences for the experimental and clinical choices of hepatoblasts.RETRIEVAL STRATEGY:Using the keywords of "fetal liver progenitor/hepatoblasts,isolation/purification",we searched the articles about fetal liver hepatoblasts separation and purification in PUBMED between January 1997 and August 2007 in English.At the same time,we searched the relative articles in CNKI using the keywords of "liver,embryo,endothelial progenitor/hepatoblasts" between January 1997 and August 2007 in Chinese.In addition,some related books and foreign articles were checked in the laboratory of Jilin University.After the first examination,the articles published in the authority magazines within five years were given prior consideration.Exclusive criteria were those repetitive researches or Meta-analysis.Totally 245 articles were collected,we selected 33 representative articles about hepatoblasts separation and purification methods.LITERATURE EVALUATION:Among 31 included articles,10 ones introduced the study background,5 ones studied the fetal liver cell dissociation,9 ones referred to the hepatoblasts separation and purification,and 7 ones indicated the problems and prospect in this field.DATA SYNTHESIS:The hepatic epithelial cell precursor cells(also known as hepatoblasts) with hepatic and biliary epithelial cell differentiation potential isolated from fetal liver,could in vitro proliferate and differentiate,after transplantation in vivo they show a good homing,and the ability to integrate and regenerate.Hepatoblasts isolation technology is being improved daily,and the related researches on this field will boost cell-based liver therapy in clinical application.CONCLUSION:Improvements and combination of the various isolation methods,as well as new and high-specific antigen discovery will further improve the isolation efficiency of hepatoblasts from fetal liver.