Figure 1. Ablation of Sco1 expression in hepatocytes results in an unexpected reduction in circulating white blood cell counts and atrophy of the thymus and spleen.

(A) Progressive leukopenia in Sco1^hep mice (2-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post hoc test, n = 5–20; P < 0.01) and (B) disproportionate reduction in the wet weights of the Sco1^hep spleen and thymus at P37 (n = 8; P < 0.01) and P47 (n = 13; P < 0.001); 2-tailed Student’s t test. (C) Selective thinning of the Sco1^hep thymic cortex. Top row: Control. Bottom row: Sco1^hep. Scale bars: 2 mm and 800 μm (P47 Sco1^hep thymus). (D) Adenoviral restoration of SCO1 expression in the liver leads to (E) rescue of splenic and thymic atrophy (n = 5) and (F) normalization of WBC counts (n = 3–5). Mice were injected on P21 via cardiac puncture with vehicle or helper-dependent adenovirus harboring a Sco1 cDNA under the control of a liver-specific promoter and harvested at P47. Control, wild-type littermates; BW, body weight; WBC and RBC, white and red blood cells, respectively.