Hepatic Zonation as the Gatekeeper of Beta-Catenin Oncogenic Transformation

The liver is a highly organized organ, in which remarkable functional complexity arises not only from the diversity of specialized cell types but also from the spatial arrangement of hepatocytes within the hepatic lobule. Blood flows from the portal tracts toward the central vein, while bile moves in the opposite direction. Hepatocytes are arranged in radial plates along this axis, interfacing with sinusoidal endothelial cells across the space of Disse – a niche enriched with hepatic stellate cells and resident Kupffer cells.