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. 2015 Jun 23;6:173. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2015.00173

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Copyright © 2015 Lepreux and Desmoulière.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Expression of α-smooth muscle actin (A,B,C) and of h-caldesmon (D,E,F) in fetal liver tissues during the lobulation of the fetal liver. α-Smooth muscle (SM) actin is expressed by myofibroblasts while h-caldesmon is expressed by SM cells. The lobulation of the fetal liver begins near the liver hilum at the 9th week of development, and continues with a centrifugal pattern in the liver until about 1 month post-partum. Three stages of the portal tract maturation are described. At the ductal plate stage, the portal vein is surrounded by myofibroblasts that express α-SM actin (A); SM cells expressing h-caldesmon are not yet present (D). At the ductal plate remodeling stage, α-SM actin expressing myofibroblasts surround the biliary tubular structures from the ductal plate, which were incorporated in the portal stroma (B); again, h-caldesmon is not still present (E). At the remodeled stage, α-SM actin expressing myofibroblasts disappear; only arterial tunica media SM cells expressed both α-SM actin (C) and h-caldesmon (F).