Figure 8. CD14⁺CD16⁺, but not CD14⁺CD16⁻ monocytes directly activate hepatic stellate cells.

(A) Primary human HSC were isolated and co-cultured for 5 days with CD14⁺CD16⁻, CD14⁺CD16⁺ monocytes or lymphocytes. No morphological differences were noted on HSC in these conditions. (B) HSC activation was determined by collagen-1A (col1A) mRNA expression, normalized to the ‘HSC-house keeping gene’ Acta2. (C) Expression of surface molecules by FACS (MFI, mean fluorescence intensity) on CD14⁺CD16⁻ (CD14) and CD14⁺CD16⁺ (CD16) monocytes/macrophages at day 0, and after 5 days in culture or co-culture with HSC. All results derived from three independent experiments. *p<0.05, **p<0.001.