Fig. 1: Chronic liver disease is associated with NIK upregulation in cholangiocytes.

A, B Human liver sections were stained with antibodies to NIK and K19. A Representative images. Scale bar: 200 μm. B NIK⁺, K19⁺, and NIK⁺K19⁺ cells were counted and normalized to total cells. Control: n = 3 subjects, PBC: n = 3 subjects, PSC: n = 3 subjects, HBV: n = 5 subjects, HCV: n = 3 subjects, Alcohol: n = 3 subjects. C, D C57BL/6J male mice were fed a chow or DDC diet for 4 weeks. C Liver sections were stained with antibodies to NIK and K19. NIK⁺, K19⁺, and NIK⁺K19⁺ cells were counted and normalized to total cells. Chow: n = 3 mice, DDC: n = 3 mice. Scale bar: 200 μm. D Liver NIK expression was measured by qPCR (normalized to 18 S levels). Chow: n = 4 mice, DDC: n = 6 mice. a.u. arbitrary units. E, F C57BL/6J males were treated with BDL or sham surgery for 7 days. E Liver sections were stained with antibodies to NIK and K19. NIK⁺, K19⁺, and NIK⁺K19⁺ cells were counted and normalized to total cells (n = 3 mice per group). Scale bar: 200 μm. F Liver NIK expression was measured by qPCR (normalized to 36B4 levels, n = 4 mice per group). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, 2-tailed student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.