Reduced hepcidin expression in periportal hepatocytes of neogenin mutant liver. (A) In situ hybridization analysis of hepcidin expression in wild-type and neogenin mutant liver at age P25. The experiments were repeated 3 times, and representative images are shown. Note that only antisense, but not sense, probes showed signals, demonstrating the specificity. Central veins (CV) and portal tract (PT) are indicated. (B) Illustration of the “zonal distribution” of hepcidin transcripts in mouse liver. Hepcidin transcripts were detected mainly in periportal hepatocytes, labeled by yellow color. RT-PCR (C) and real-time PCR (D) analyses of hepcidin expression in neogenin+/+ and neogeninm/m livers (P25). Means ± SEM of 3 samples for each group are shown. **Significant difference (P < .01) from the wild-type control.
