en
Download

Micro World

How small is a human hepatocyte?

A typical human hepatocyte is about 25 µm across.

What is measured: liver cell, average diameter

Human Hepatocyte (25 µm) drawn to scale beside a cloud droplet (20 µm) and a human hair (70 µm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Cloud droplet (20 µm), Human Hepatocyte (25 µm) and Human hair (70 µm).

Compare

How big is that, really?

  • A little wider than a cloud droplet
  • About 2 would fit across a human hair
  • As wide as about 3 red blood cells side by side
  • About 4 would fit across a human egg cell
  • About 13× the length of an E. coli bacterium

Learn

Facts about Human Hepatocyte

Hepatocytes make up about 80% of the liver's mass and perform hundreds of metabolic functions.

Source: Alberts, Molecular Biology of the Cell; Histology Atlas

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Human Hepatocyte
Human Dendritic Cell15 µm0.6×
HeLa Cell20 µm0.8×
Cellulose Fiber20 µm0.8×
Human Erythroblast20 µm0.8×
Human Goblet Cell20 µm0.8×
Thalassiosira Diatom20 µm0.8×
Human Hepatocyte25 µmthis page
Human Osteocyte25 µmsame size
Dandelion Pollen Grain35 µm1.4×
Taenia solium Egg35 µm1.4×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Human Hepatocyte or HeLa Cell?

Topics

More sizes like this