Fig. 4: Tjp2 deficient hepatocytes give rise to the DDC-diet-induced ductular cells.
a Lineage tracing. One week after the last tamoxifen dose to induce deletion of the indicated genes, mice were fed a DDC diet for 28 days and sacrificed. LacZ and Ck19 staining of control and Tjp2 icKOHC Rosa26:LacZ mouse liver samples, showing Ck19-positive ductular structures derived from LacZ-positive hepatocytes (✽✽) and resident LacZ-negative Ck19-positive bile ducts (✽). Scale bar: 50 μm. b, c Tjp2 and Ck19 staining of control and Tjp2 icKOHC liver sections from mice fed standard or DDC diet and quantification. Scale bar: 20 μm. d Tjp2 and A6 staining of control and Tjp2 icKOHC liver sections from mice fed standard or DDC-diet. Note that in Tjp2 icKOHC animals, Tjp2 is deleted in hepatocytes, thus showing that Tjp2-negative and Ck19- or A6-positive ductular cells arise from Tjp2-deficient hepatocytes. icKOHH, tamoxifen-induced hepatocyte deletion. Scale bar: 20 μm.
