Figure 3.
A schematic displays the gradient patterns of basal metabolites across the three zones. The liver cell plate, composed of 15–25 hepatocytes, lies between the periportal and pericentral zones. Six to eight periportal hepatocytes (zone 1) enclose the periportal zone, while two to three pericentral hepatocytes (zone 3) are located near the pericentral zone. The boundary of zone 2, consisting of six to ten hepatocytes, in the middle lobules is still not well-defined. From zone 1 to zone 3, the concentration of O2, the synthesis of urea and cholesterol, the gluconeogenesis, the expression of albumin, and the oxidation of fatty acid decrease, whereas Wnt signaling, the expression of glutamine synthetase (GS), and the activity of cytochrome P450 (CYPs) enzyme, the glycolysis, the lipogenesis, and the synthesis of bile acid otherwise increase.