Biliatresone has a reduction in primary cilia and a dose-dependent decrease in visible microtubules, suggesting that Biliatresone decreases microtubule stability in primary neonatal mouse extrahepatic cholangiocytes.
Biliatresone (2 μg/ml; for 24 hours) shows disruption of the spheroid lumen and abnormal cholangiocyte polarity in mouse cholangiocyte.

Biliatresone exhibits toxicity at doses of 0.065-1.0 μg/mL with a marked reduction and the lethal dose of Biliatresone in a zebrafish assay is 1 μg/mL.
Larvae treated at 5 dpf with low doses of biliatresone [0.0625 μg/ml (0.2 μM) and 0.125 μg/ml (0.4 μM)] shows only subtle gallbladder defects, whereas larvae treated with higher doses has pronounced morphological defects of the gallbladder and extrahepatic ducts.