Fig. 4
Morphometric analysis of FG density and bile acid analysis in the gallbladder of wild-type and Sox17+/−mice fasted for 12 h. (A) FG density (blue intensity) along the proximal-distal axis (each of three mice for wild-type and Sox17+/−mice) were measured at 0–2 min after FG entry into the gallbladder. (B) Line graphs showing FG dye intensity in the gallbladder of wild-type (three reddish lines on left) and Sox17+/− (three bluish lines on right) mice at 30 s, 1 and 2 min after FG influx into the gallbladder (x-axis, the length from the gallbladder-cystic duct border [mm]; y-axis, the absolute value of blue intensity [max value = 255]) (C, D). In (C), box plots show the amount of cholesterol (Chol) (left) and total bile acids (TBA) (right) in gallbladder bile in wild-type and Sox17+/− mice fasted for 12 h (n = 8 each). In (D), the bar graph shows the average ratio of unconjugated bile acids in TBA and the band graphs show the altered percentage of each bile acid (%) in the amino acid-conjugated (left) or -unconjugated (right) bile acid field between wild-type and Sox17+/− mice. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; p-values were calculated using Welch’s t-test. (E) Schematic representation of the different FG dynamics in the gallbladder of wild-type and Sox17+/− mice fasted for 12 h. FG influx forms a boundary layer with normally stored bile in the wild-type mice but not in the Sox17+/− gallbladder, indicating the abnormal properties of stored bile in Sox17+/− mice.
