Figure 2. Hepatocyte origin of NICD/AKT-induced ICCs.

(A) R26R-EYFP mice were intravenously injected with 4 × 10¹¹ viral genomes of AAV8-Ttr-Cre, followed by hydrodynamic tail vein injection of the NICD/AKT plasmids 1 week later. Tumors were analyzed 4.5 weeks after plasmid injection. (B) Coimmunostaining for EYFP (red) and Ck19 (green) 1 week after AAV8-Ttr-Cre injection shows that all hepatocytes, but no BECs, express EYFP. (C–E) Immunostainings of tumors for EYFP (red) show that they originated from hepatocytes. Additional immunostainings (all green) for Sox9 (C), Ck8 (D), and Mup (E) show that tumors express biliary markers but lack hepatocyte differentiation. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Original magnification, ×100; inset, ×200. At least 15 liver sections from 3 mice were analyzed for each immunostaining.