Figure 3
Lineage tracing of hepatocytes in homeostasis. (a) Experimental scheme: Alb-cre-lacZ mice were injected with tamoxifen (120 mg/kg) five times every second day for two weeks. Mice were sacrificed at days 0 and 120. (b) The ratio of the X-gal-positive area of the liver sections from day 0 (first line) and 120 (second line) was not significantly different. (c) Quantification of the X-gal-positive area. The percentage of the lacZ-positive area was 63.93% ± 6.87% and 64.37% ± 3.52% at days 0 and 120, respectively. (d) Double immunostaining for lacZ and albumin, Ck19, α-sma, or OPN. (d) The ratio of lacZ + /marker + cells in marker + cells. The ratio of lacZ + /alb + cells in alb + cells (95.00% ± 2.30%) was significantly higher than in Ck19 + (1.63% ± 1.42%), α-sma + (0.00% ± 0.00%), or OPN + (0.00% ± 0.00%) cells. Nuclei were stained using DAPI (blue). Over 15 sections from a group of mice (n = 3) were counted; data are expressed as the mean ± SEM; magnification, ×200; ***p < 0.01.
