Figure 4.

Northern blot analysis of the exchanger mRNA in whole livers (A) and in different cell types isolated from rat livers (B). (A) RNA isolated from whole livers of normal rat (lane 1) and cirrhotic rat after treatment with CCl₄ for 12 weeks (lanes 2 and 3). Macroscopic inspections indicate that the CCl₄-treated livers were nodular, shrunken, and hard, and that fibrosis was judged to be mild for a sample liver of lane 2 and severe for that of lane 3. Amount of loaded RNA was monitored by ethidium bromide-staining (Lower). (B) RNA prepared from cells isolated from normal or fibrotic rat livers. Twenty micrograms of total RNA were run per lane. Lanes 1–3 represent the fraction rich in hepatocytes (HC), stellate-cell-deficient fraction rich in other nonparenchymal cells (Kupffer cells and sinusoidal endothelial cells) (KEC), and the stellate-cell-rich-fraction (SC) obtained from normal liver, respectively. Lanes 4–6 correspond to the same fractions from fibrotic livers (treatment with CCl₄ for 6 weeks). (Lower) The same blot reprobed with G3PDH.