Development of the nervous system in mouse liver

Figure 10  Number of contacts between nerve fibers and hepatic arteries or intrahepatic bile ducts. A: Center; B: Periphery. Nerve fiber (NF) contacts were observed at an earlier phase in the hepatic artery (HA) than in the intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD). The number of NF-HA contacts was significantly larger than that of NF-IHBD contacts from P0 to P7 in the center. NF contacts emerged also in the periphery after P3. The number of NF-HA contacts was larger than that of NF-IHBD contacts in the periphery as well. NF: Nerve fiber; BD: Bile duct; HA: Hepatic artery; E: Embryonic day; P: Postnatal day. ^aP < 0.05.