Fig. 1: DDC diet induces a strong ductular reaction in the Tjp2 cKO mouse liver.

a Change of relative body weight for control and Tjp2 cKO mice fed DDC diet for 28 days. b Liver to body weight ratio of indicated mouse lines after 7- and 28-day DDC-diet. c H&E staining for control and Tjp2 cKO mouse liver after 7- and 28-day DDC-diet. Scale bar: 100 μm. d, e Immunofluorescence microscopy and quantification of Ki67-positive cells and Ki67-positive HNF4α-positive hepatocytes in the liver of mice fed DDC diet for 28 days. Scale bar: 50 μm. f, g Immunohistochemistry staining for Ck19 showing the periportal area and quantification of the Ck19-positive liver area from random liver sections after a 28-day DDC-diet. Scale bar: 100 μm. h, i Western blot analysis and quantification of Ck19 expression in control and Tjp2 cKO mouse liver samples after a 28-day DDC diet. j, k Immunohistochemistry staining and quantification of Sox9-positive cells after a 28-day DDC-diet. Scale bar: 100 μm. l, m Immunohistochemistry staining and quantification of A6-positive liver area after a 28-day DDC diet. Scale bar: 100 μm. n, o Sirius red staining and quantification of Sirus red-positive liver area after a 28-day DDC diet. Scale bar: 50 μm. Data in (a, b, e, g, i, k, m, o) shown as mean ± SD, unpaired Student’s t test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.005, ***p < 0.0005, ns—not significant (p > 0.05), with p < 0.05 considered a significant difference. (a, b, e, o): n = 10, (g): n = 7, (k, m): n = 8, (i) n = 3 mice per cohort, data from blot (h).