Figure 2.

Chronic CCl₄ injury suppresses Gadd45a expression and activates TGF-β/Smad signaling. A: Relative mRNA expression levels of Gadd45a, Gadd45b, and Gadd45g in the livers of mice treated with CCl₄ for 1, 2, and 4 wk; the saline-treated group served as the control group; B: Relative protein expression levels of Gadd45a, Gadd45b, and Gadd45g in the livers of mice treated with CCl₄ for 1, 2, and 4 wk; C: Immunofluorescence staining of Gadd45a, Gadd45b, and Gadd45g (in green) in HSCs treated with CCl₄ for 4 wk (nuclei are stained blue with DAPI; scale bars = 10 μm); D: Expression levels of p-Smad2, p-Smad3, Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4 were analyzed in HSCs treated with CCl₄ for 1, 2, and 4 wk. HSC: Hepatic stellate cells; TGF: Transforming growth factor.