Hepatic Lobule Zonation Simulator

Every classic hexagonal liver lobule runs the same two overlapping gradients along its sinusoids: oxygen falling from the portal triad to the central vein, and a Wnt/β-catenin signal rising the opposite way. Together they split a metabolically uniform-looking sheet of hepatocytes into distinct periportal (zone 1) and pericentral (zone 3) programs — gluconeogenesis and the urea cycle at one end, glycolysis, lipogenesis and CYP450 drug metabolism at the other. This simulator renders a real 3D lobule with six sinusoids of hepatocytes radiating from portal triads to a central vein, colours every cell by its computed zonation index, and lets you dial blood flow and Wnt strength to watch the zone boundaries shift. A hepatotoxin-challenge pair of sliders layers on a CYP450-activated toxin (the acetaminophen/APAP overdose model) and a glutathione-reserve antioxidant buffer, reproducing the classic zone-3 centrilobular necrosis pattern seen on liver biopsy when GSH is depleted.