Figure 5.

 (A) Real-time RT-PCR analyses of TGFβ1 mRNA values in the livers of WT and SMP8-IGF-I TG mice. Livers were harvested at indicated times following treatment with vehicle or CCl₄. Total RNA was extracted and processed as detailed in Methods. Following amplification, mRNA levels were standardised to those of the housekeeping gene 28s. Results are expressed as the ratio between relative values of TGFβ1 mRNA in CCl₄ treated mice to those of TGFβ1 mRNA in vehicle treated mice set arbitrarily at 1.0. Data represent the mean (SEM) from three to six mice per group analysed at each time point. b: significantly different (p<0.01) from vehicle treated group; c: significantly different (p<0.05) from TG mice. (B) Real time RT-PCR analyses of TGFβ1 mRNA levels in HSC obtained from WT and transgenic mice, activated during 14 days in culture. Total RNA was extracted and processed as detailed in Methods. Units were calculated from the formula: 2^ΔCt×10000 (ΔCt = number of cycles of housekeeping gene minus number of cycles of TGFβ1). Data represent the mean (SEM) from 10–12 experiments. Statistical significances are shown in the figure. (C) Real-time quantitative RT-PCR analyses of expression of procollagen α1(I) (left panel) and fibronectin (right panel) in the livers of WT and SMP8-IGF-I TG mice harvested at indicated time points following vehicle or CCl₄ treatment (see methodological details in (A)). Data represent the mean (SEM) from three to six mice per group analysed at each time point. a: significantly different (p<0.05) from vehicle-treated group; b: significantly different (p<0.05) from TG mice (Mann-Whitney U test).