Fig. 1. Ductal bile formation.
Bile produced by hepatocytes (primary or hepatic bile) is delivered into bile ducts. The Canals of Hering provide the continuum between the hepatocyte canaliculus and the ductules or cholangioles, the small bile ducts and the large bile ducts in which hepatic bile is modified to become ductal bile. A hepatic progenitor cell (HPC) niche is also thought to reside at the interface of the cells lining the Canals of Hering and the hepatocyte plate. Active biliary epithelial transport of electrolytes and solutes occurs in small and large bile ducts and determines the vectorial water movement (that is, absorption or secretion) across cholangiocytes, thus altering ductal bile composition and flow. Adapted with permission from REF.6, Elsevier.