FIGURE 5.

Reduced hepatic clearance of LPS in Bsep KO mice. (A) Stills of liver from a WT mouse before and at different time intervals after i.v. bolus injection of Alexa Fluor 488–coupled LPS. Within seconds after the tail vein injection, the green fluorescent LPS appears in the sinusoids, is then rapidly taken up by KCs, and slowly enriches in bile canaliculi. (B) In Bsep KO mice, the uptake of LPS by KCs is strongly reduced, and the secretion to bile canaliculi is almost completely blocked; consequently, the green fluorescent LPS persists longer in the sinusoids. Red, F4/80; green, Alexa Fluor 488–coupled LPS; blue, autofluorescence. Pictures are representative of n = 3 mice. Images correspond to Video S1A,B. Corresponding quantification of the mean LPS intensity in sinusoids, KCs, and bile canaliculi of WT (C) and Bsep KO (D) mice