Fig. 5

Luciferase expression in Abcb4^−/− mice. Abcb4^−/− mice exhibit high levels of bile acids in serum, making them a good model to test the physiological inducibility of minimal BSEP promoters. FVB Abcb4^−/− and WT male and female mice were administered 3 × 10¹² VG/kg of AAV8-imPr-LucPEST (a), AAV8-A1AT-LucPEST (b) or AAV8-ihPr-LucPEST (c). Luciferase was measured in live mice at the indicated times (n = 3 for each gender and vector, except in knock-out (KO) males inoculated with AAV-imPr-LucPEST where n = 4). The statistical comparison between Abcb4^−/− and WT mice was performed by using an unpaired T test at each time point. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Data are shown as mean ± SEM of photon (Ph) units per second normalized with background signal. imPr, AAV8-imPr-LucPEST; ihPr, AAV8-ihPr-LucPEST; A1AT, AAV8-A1AT-LucPEST