The BH3-Only Protein Bid Does Not Mediate Death-Receptor-Induced Liver Injury in Obstructive Cholestasis

The accumulation of bile acids during obstructive cholestasis causes liver injury and fibrosis, which is at least partly mediated by the death receptors Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, Tumor necrosis factor-α, and Fas. The BH3-interacting domain death agonist Bid is a critical mediator of death receptor-induced apoptosis in hepatocytes. Our aim for this study was, therefore, to elucidate whether Bid also mediates death receptor-induced liver injury in obstructive cholestasis. Overall, survival and various aspects of liver injury were analyzed in wild-type and Bid−/− mice after bile duct ligation (BDL), a commonly used model to study obstructive cholestasis in mice. Liver injury was examined at 3, 7, and 14 days after BDL. Loss of Bid did not affect the number of bile infarcts, serum aspartate aminotransferase values, or animal survival. Processing of procaspase-3 and procaspase-9, and caspase-3 enzyme activities, were not detectable in either group, and Bid−/− mice displayed the same pattern of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling positive hepatocytes as wild-type controls following BDL. In contrast to Fas-receptor deficient lpr mice, hepatic fibrosis and the inflammatory response was not affected by loss of Bid. Together, these data suggest that Bid is not a downstream target of death receptors in obstructive cholestasis and does not significantly contribute to bile acid induced liver injury and fibrosis.