A Rotavirus-Induced Mouse Model to Study Biliary Atresia and Neonatal Cholestasis

Biliary atresia is a devastating neonatal cholangiopathy that affects both extra- and intrahepatic bile ducts progressing to fibrosis and end-stage liver disease by 2 years of age. Despite re-establishment of biliary drainage following a Kasai portoenterostomy (surgical procedure), many infants develop fibrosis requiring liver transplant. In the murine model of biliary atresia, rhesus rotavirus infection of newborn pups results in a cholangiopathy paralleling human biliary atresia and is used to study mechanistic aspects of the disease. The infected mice displayed histopathological signs similar to human biliary atresia, with bile duct obstruction, bile duct proliferation, and liver inflammation with fibrosis.