A predictive 3D multi-scale model of biliary fluid dynamics in the liver lobule

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Bile, the central metabolic product of the liver, is transported by the bile canaliculi network. The impairment of bile flow in cholestatic liver diseases has urged a demand for insights into its regulation. Here, we developed a predictive 3D multi-scale model that simulates fluid dynamic properties successively from the subcellular to the tissue level. The model integrates the structure of the bile canalicular network in the mouse liver lobule, as determined by high-resolution confocal and serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, with measurements of bile transport by intravital microscopy. The combined experiment-theory approach revealed spatial heterogeneities of biliary geometry and hepatocyte transport activity. Based on this, our model predicts gradients of bile velocity and pressure in the liver lobule. Validation of the model predictions by pharmacological inhibition of Rho kinase demonstrated a requirement of canaliculi contractility for bile flow in vivo. Our model can be applied to functionally characterize liver diseases and quantitatively estimate biliary transport upon drug-induced liver injur

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)277-290.e9
Number of pages5
JournalCell Systems
Volume4
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 22 Mar 2017
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85015096552
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#82542
ORCID /0000-0003-0137-5106/work/142244210
ORCID /0000-0003-4414-4340/work/142252128

Keywords

Keywords

  • acetaminophen, actomyosin contractility, bile canaliculi, bile flow, cholestasis, computational fluid dynamics, drug-induced liver injury, mouse liver, multi-scale model, peristalsis