Fig. 4.

Conditioned media from EphrinB2/EphB4-stimulated HSC increases sinusoidal endothelial cell (SEC) migration through VEGF-A production. A: conditioned medium (CM) from HSC stimulated with EphrinB2-Fc, EphB4-Fc, or vehicle for 48 h was used to assess the migratory effect on SEC via Boyden chamber. Ave No., average number; HHSEC, human hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells; Ab, antibody. Media from both EphrinB2- and EphB4-treated groups (4th and 6th bars) increased SEC migration compared with the media from the vehicle-treated HSC (2nd bar) and compared with groups where basal medium (BM) containing EphrinB2 or EphB4 was used as a chemokine (3rd and 5th bars) (n = 3 separate experiment, *P < 0.05). B: conditioned media from vehicle or EphrinB2-Fc-treated HSC when preincubated with VEGF-A neutralizing antibody (10 μg/ml) significantly decreased (∼50% reduction) the ability of SEC to migrate compared with the respective groups in which the conditioned medium was preincubated with isotype IgG control (n = 3 separate experiments, *P < 0.05).