Objective       To determine the effect of Wnt3a on epithelial mesenchymal transition in mouse hepatic progenitor cells.       Methods       The mouse hepatic progenitor cells were infected with Ad-GFP-Wnt3a virus. Light microscopy was used to observe the morphology of mouse hepatic progenitor cells compared with blank cells. The metastatic capacity of cells was observed by wound healing assay and Transwell assay. The expression of epithelial an

d mesenchymal markers at mRNA and protein levels was detected by real-time PCR and Western blotting.       Results       The mouse hepatic progenitor cells were highly infected by Ad-GFP-Wnt3a virus. Mouse hepatic progenitor cells had morphological changes from epithelial to a spindle-like shape. Wound-healing assay showed the migration distance of were 0.53±0.05 and 0.33±0.02 mm

respectively for Ad-Wnt3a cells and Ad-GFP cells (

P

0.05). Transwell assay showed the cells permeating the Transwell membrane were 62.00±3.60 and 10.33±2.08 respectively for Ad-Wnt3a cells and Ad-GFP cells (

P

0.01). Real-time PCR and Western blotting showed the mRNA and protein levels of epithelial markers N-cadherin

vimentin and snail were increased significantly

but

those of mesenchymal markers E-cadherin and CK-18 were decreased significantly (

P

0.05).       Conclusion       Wnt3a can induce epithelial mesenchymal transition in mouse hepatic progenitor cells indicating that Wnt3a might be involved in the progress of liver fiberosis.