Novel Approach to Bile Duct Damage in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: Participation of Cellular Senescence and Autophagy

Figure 1

Biliary epithelial senescence in PBC. BECs in small bile ducts involved in chronic nonsuppurative destructive cholangitis (CNSDC) show histological features of senescence, such as cytoplasmic eosinophilia, cellular and nuclear enlargement, and uneven nuclear spacing (a). SA-β-gal activity is detected in BECs in PBC (b). Senescent markers, p21^WAF1/Cip1 and p16^INK4a, were expressed in BECs in damaged small bile ducts in PBC (c) and (d). Immunostaining for p21^WAF1/Cip1 and p16^INK4a. Original magnification: ×400.

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