Figure 4.

GFP^highBECs are enriched in small intrahepatic ductules. (A) WGA labels cell membranes and facilitates quantification of Sox9^EGFP cells qualitatively identified as high (H) and low (L) (scale bar = 10 μm). (B) Qualitatively identified GFP^high cells are significantly brighter than GFP^low cells by quantification of confocal images (n = 307 GFP^low, 215 GFP^high; ∗ indicates P < .001, unpaired t test; a.u. = arbitrary units). (C) Quantification of EGFP intensity relative to duct diameter demonstrates distribution of Sox9^EGFP populations across the intrahepatic biliary tree (n = 2589 cells). (D) GFP^high BECs are most abundant in small ductules and rare with increasing duct size (n = 954 cells 0–5 μm, 523 cells 5–10 μm, 1112 cells >10 μm). (E) BEC size increases with increasing duct diameter, and BECs located in ducts with luminal diameter ≥10 μm are significantly larger than BECs located in the smallest ductules (n = 954 cells 0–5 μm, 523 cells 5–10 μm, 1112 cells >10 μm; ∗ indicates P < .001, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey test). (F) GFP^low BECs located in ductules and ducts do not differ significantly in size, whereas GFP^high BECs located in ducts are significantly larger than GFP^high BECs located in ductules (∗ indicates P = .01, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey test).