Fig 1

Fig 1 Establishment of BEC and hepatocyte lineages: in vivo cell type quantification and in silico modelling

(A) Schematic of a 5-dpf liver, highlighting the biliary network. (B-B’) Maximum projection (200 μm z-stack) of a 120-hpf liver expressing tp1:H2B-mCherry (BEC) and stained for Hnf4ɑ (hepatocyte). Autofluorescent blood cells appear in bright white. (N = 4, n ≥ 12 livers) (C) Relative distribution of BECs and hepatocytes at 120 hpf (N = 4, n ≥ 12 livers). (D-F) Mathematical models simulating hepatoblast differentiation employing different parameter combinations: proliferation rates of differentiated cell types is equal (D, F) or slower in BECs (E). Hepatoblasts either are all bipotent (D, E) or represent a heterogeneous population with mixed probabilities for uni-or bipotent differentiation (F). Plots showing the simulated cell proportions over simulation time (n = 10) and the final cell type ratio in bar graphs. The numerical values that were used to generate the graphs in (C-F) can be found in S1 Data. BEC, biliary epithelial cell; dpf, day postfertilization; Hb, hepatoblast; Hc, hepatocyte; hpf, hours post fertilization.