Smad3 Deficiency Counteracts Hepatocyte Apoptosis and Portal Fibrogenesis Induced By Bile Duct Ligation

Misako Sato^1,2, Kathleen C Flanders^1*, Tsutomu Matsubara³, Yasuteru Muragaki², Shizuya Saika⁴ and Akira Ooshima^1,2

¹Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

²Department of Pathology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan

³Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Japan

⁴Department of Ophthalmology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan