De novo formation of a functional biliary system by TGFβ-mediated hepatocyte transdifferentiation

We observed de novo formation of peripheral bile ducts by transdifferentiation of hepatocytes in mice born without peripheral bile ducts. To assess the authenticity and maturity of the hepatocyte-derived peripheral cholangiocytes forming the new bile ducts, we compared their global gene expression profile to that of peripheral cholangiocytes isolated from normal mice. We also included hepatocytes isolated from mice born without peripheral bile ducts as a control. We isolated hepatocyte-derived peripheral cholangiocytes, peripheral cholangiocytes and hepatocytes from mouse livers by FACS, extracted RNA and performed RNA-seq, using single end 50bp reads.