mortality/aging
• despite the severity of their phenotype, most mutant mice survive for several months
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liver/biliary system
• mutants exhibit abnormal intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD) differentiation and morphogenesis, resulting in persistence of the ductal plate and a highly disorganized biliary system
• in addition, mutant livers show absence of interlobular arteries in portal tracts, suggesting a link between arterial and biliary development within the liver
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• at 2 months, mutant extrahepatic biliary tracts display epithelial abnormalities
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• in extreme cases, the cystic duct is completely dilated and no duct is clearly identifiable
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• at 2 months, mutants exhibit dysplasia of the larger intrahepatic bile ducts (IHBDs) and a reduction, or paucity, of small IHBDs
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• absence of identifiable IHBDs is already evident at P7, indicating lack of formation of interlobular bile ducts
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• at 2 months, mutant gallbladders exhibit epithelial dysplasia
• in the mutant gallbladder, the normal cuboidal epithelium is replaced in some areas by a stratified squamous epithelium or mucus-secreting cells
• nonetheless, mutant gallbladders are filled with bile and communicate with the liver and the duodenum
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• mutant mice exhibit fully penetrant liver hypertrophy
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• at 2 months, mutant livers display hepatocyte necrosis and oval cell proliferation
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• at 2 months, mutant mice exhibit liver inflammation
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homeostasis/metabolism
• as early as P7, mutant mice show increased plasma levels of bilirubin
• by 2 months, mutant bilirubin and bile acid levels are dramatically increased
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• as early as P7, mutants exhibit significantly increased levels of serum cholesterol; levels become stabilized after P14
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• as early as P7, mutants exhibit significantly increased levels of serum triglycerides, suggesting altered hepatocyte metabolism; levels become stabilized after P14
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growth/size/body
• body weight differences are detected as early as P2 and increase with time, reaching a growth plateau at weaning
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• mutant mice display severe postnatal growth retardation
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• mutant mice exhibit fully penetrant liver hypertrophy
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muscle
immune system
• at 2 months, mutant mice exhibit liver inflammation
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endocrine/exocrine glands
• at 2 months, mutant extrahepatic biliary tracts display epithelial abnormalities
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• in extreme cases, the cystic duct is completely dilated and no duct is clearly identifiable
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• at 2 months, mutants exhibit dysplasia of the larger intrahepatic bile ducts (IHBDs) and a reduction, or paucity, of small IHBDs
|
• absence of identifiable IHBDs is already evident at P7, indicating lack of formation of interlobular bile ducts
|
• at 2 months, mutant gallbladders exhibit epithelial dysplasia
• in the mutant gallbladder, the normal cuboidal epithelium is replaced in some areas by a stratified squamous epithelium or mucus-secreting cells
• nonetheless, mutant gallbladders are filled with bile and communicate with the liver and the duodenum
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