ArticleThe Journal of cell biology2023
Hepatocyte apical bulkheads provide a mechanical means to oppose bile pressure.
Article in The Journal of cell biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biophysics of lumen morphogenesis.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
- PAR3-mediated coordination of hepatocyte proliferation, maturation, and architecture in liver development and regeneration.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Permeability-driven pressure and cell proliferation control lumen morphogenesis in pancreatic organoids.Nature cell biology · 2026Article
- Bile canaliculi formation in primary hepatocytes requires α1β1 integrin-dependent adherens junction re-organization.Journal of cell science · 2025Article
- Hepatocyte differentiation requires anisotropic expansion of bile canaliculi.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Generation ofRegenerative therapy · 2024Review
- Shaping epithelial lumina under pressure.Biochemical Society transactions · 2024Review
- Apical bulkheads accumulate as adaptive response to impaired bile flow in liver disease.EMBO reports · 2023Article
- A modular analysis of bile canalicular function and its implications for cholestasis.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Hepatocytes grow their apical surfaces anisotropically to generate a 3D network of bile canaliculi (BC). BC elongation is ensured by apical bulkheads, membrane extensions that traverse the lumen and connect juxtaposed hepatocytes. We hypothesize that apical bulkheads are mechanical elements that shape the BC lumen in liver development but also counteract elevated biliary pressure. Here, by resolving their structure using STED microscopy, we found that they are sealed by tight junction loops, connected by adherens junctions, and contain contractile actomyosin, characteristics of mechanical function. Apical bulkheads persist at high pressure upon microinjection of fluid into the BC lumen, and laser ablation demonstrated that they are under tension. A mechanical model based on ablation results revealed that apical bulkheads double the pressure BC can hold. Apical bulkhead frequency anticorrelates with BC connectivity during mouse liver development, consistent with predicted changes in biliary pressure. Our findings demonstrate that apical bulkheads are load-bearing mechanical elements that could protect the BC network against elevated pressure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.