Fig. 1.

Structure of liver lobules. The hepatic lobule is the liver’s functional unit. Blood from the portal vein and the hepatic artery traverse the lobules to the central vein. Bile canaculi transport bile from the liver to the gut. Various metabolic pathways distribute along the porto-central axis of a liver lobule. GS, glutamine synthesis; Cho, cholesterol synthesis. Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) line the hepatic blood vessels, while liver-resident macrophages, i.e. Kupffer cells, are localized within the hepatic sinusoids. Hepatocytes are located behind the space of Disse with a sinusoidal (basolateral) membrane towards blood circulation. Figure adapted from Mosby et al. [48]