Figure 3

Volumetric and segmentation based renderings of portal areas from developing liver. Reconstructions of the "ductal plate" (a-d), "remodeling bile duct" (e-h), and "remodeled bile duct" (i-l) stages, respectively. The segmentation based renderings of the "ductal plate" stage throughout the image stack emphasize presentation of CK19 and EpCAM by the primitive hepatocytes and the ductal plates (b) whereas strong nuclear expression of SOX9 localize to the latter (c). Likewise, the branching portal veins are visible. (f-h) The investigated proteins mark the ductal plate and the remodeling bile duct, where the latter is presented as a sleeve of biliary cells surrounding the portal area. The bile ducts share lumen with the ductal plate in one end of the stack (h, arrowhead). In the adult liver (i-l) the biliary cells express the proteins of the ductal plate and make projections into the parenchyma (l, arrowhead). The biliary lumina are presented in green and the portal vessels in white colors. PV = Portal Vein.