Fig. 2.

Effect of HGF gene therapy on diabetic kidney disease. a Collagen IV immunofluorescence (×630). Only HGF gene therapy (either alone or in combination with G-CSF) was associated with a significant decrease in collagen IV. b Fibronectin immunohistochemistry (×630). Groups treated with HGF therapy (db/db+HGF and db/db+HGF+G-CSF) showed decreased fibronectin accumulation. c Histogram summarising the mean values of collagen IV and fibronectin from each group. Black bars, collagen IV; white bars, fibronectin *p < 0.05 vs db/db, db/db–BMT and db/db+G-CSF; ^† p < 0.05 vs db/db+HGF and db/db+HGF+G-CSF (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests)