Effect of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α knockout on phenotypic differentiation of hepatic stellate cells. After HNF4α was knocked out by shHNF4α, the expression of AFP, ALB, PEPCK, E-cadherin, α-SMA, and vimentin was detected by Western blotting. β-actin was used as the control. bP < 0.01, vs control. HNF4α: Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α.