Fig. 3
The structure of the biliary drainage system was impaired by HCT. a Visualization of the biliary tree structure in murine livers of the WT-NS, WT-TAA, and KO-TAA groups by retrograde ink injection and optical liver clearing. b HCT was detected in ink-injected murine liver of the three groups by IF of hepatocyte marker (ALB) and cholangiocyte markers (CK19). White arrows indicate coexpression or colocalization of hepatocyte and cholangiocyte markers. c Visualization of the bile canaliculi marked by IF of ZO-1 in the murine liver of the three groups. d The ultrastructure of the bile canaliculi shown by TEM in the three groups. e Quantification of the density of the microvilli in the bile canaliculi. White scale bars 50μm.*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001 (one-way ANOVA, n = 6/group)